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An academic who left his wife after she “tried to run him over” is locked in a divorce battle over a £1 million house and claims that they were never legally married.

University lecturer Khaled Hayatleh was punched by Reem Mofdy before she drove at him in her red convertible BMW because she believed he had cheated on her.

Their marriage broke up and they both filed for divorce in 2013 and began a legal battle over assets.

Mr Hayatleh claims a £1 million house in Oxford, which he owned before meeting his now ex-wife, should not be included in the divorce settlement and he has told the Court of Appeal that their marriage was never valid.

However, Ms Mofdy insists that they are legally husband and wife, and accuses Mr Hayatleh of “seeking to avoid his financial responsibilities to her arising out of their marriage”.

Mr Hayatleh, a lecturer in electronic engineering at Oxford Brookes University, moved to Britain from Syria in the Eighties and acquired British citizenship.

In 1999, he and Ms Mofdy had an arranged “religious marriage” in Syria. Mr Hayatleh did not attend the ceremony but sent his brother as a stand-in, a valid and legal move under Syrian law. Ms Mofdy moved to Oxford the same year and they had another ceremony.

The couple, who have a daughter, broke up after Ms Mofdy was convicted of common assault after the incident outside their home in Kidlington near Oxford in March 2012.

Mr Hayatleh asked the divorce courts to declare that his marriage to Ms Mofdy was not properly registered and therefore was a “non-marriage” in the eyes of the law.

Judge Robin Tolson QC ruled against him in May, but Mr Hayatleh has asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision.

Nick Goodwin QC, for Mr Hayatleh, said he decided to end the relationship “due to a number of incidents in which the wife was violent towards the husband, including an attempt to run him over”. He said there were Syrian documents “which record Mr Hayatleh as being single”.

William Tyzack, for Ms Mofdy, suggested Mr Hayatleh may have a “strategic” motive for claiming that they were never married.

The Appeal Court judges will give their ruling at a later date.