A mining tycoon who was locked in a 17-year divorce battle with his ex-wife has been left facing homeless and with less than £5 in his bank after being ordered to pay a £2million settlement.

David Mann, 50, agreed to support his 48-year-old wife Shelley for life after they divorced in 1999, when their now-adult daughters were still at primary school.

But, despite still living in a £90,000-a-year rented flat in the exclusive London neighbourhood of Kensington, Mr Mann says he is not just penniless but mired under an avalanche of debt.

David Mann, 50 (left) has been left facing homelessness and with £5 in his bank after being ordered to pay a £2million divorce settlement to his wife Shelley (right) 17 years ago

Mr Mann claims that, since shelling out £1.5m in the divorce settlement, he has become 'reliant on the charity' of friends and family.

A well-known figure in the Jewish community, he said he had also turned to the congregation at his local synagogue for help.

A judge has now ruled that Mr Mann - who said he has even applied to the council for housing benefit - does not have to pay his wife the remaining £625,000, or the 17 years' worth of interest.

Mrs Mann, who also says she is facing homelessness, had insisted that her 'deal-maker' ex-husband was hiding a fortune behind an 'elaborate facade' and should be sent to prison if he did not pay the outstanding balance.

She also accused him of 'drip-feeding' the settlement money and said she could have bought a property - rather than wasting money on rent - if she had received it in a lump sum.

But Mrs Justice Roberts turned down Mrs Mann's bid, accepting Mr Mann's plea of poverty and ruling that he simply did not have the money to fulfill the order.

Giving her judgement after a High Court hearing, she said she had 'sincere sympathy' for his ex-wife, particularly as Mr Mann would have 'wrecked' his own finances by spending hundreds of thousands on rent in central London.

But she said Mrs Mann had failed to prove that her ex - who was declared bankrupt in 2004 - would have gone to such lengths to cheat her of her divorce payout.

Following their acrimonious divorce, Mr Mann left his wife their £1.8m family home in Hampstead (pictured), but she said her finances went on to reach a state of collapse

Refusing to jail the husband for contempt in not paying the sums owed, the judge said: 'I accept that she (Mrs Mann) is facing an extremely uncertain future.

'She is owed a significant sum of money by her former husband but, at the present time, he has no means of discharging that debt.

'No stone should be left unturned in the ongoing and collective efforts of the parties to find a solution to this problem which is not, in any sense, of her making.'

Although Mr Mann was described as 'the author of his own misfortune', the judge added that she was 'not sure that the hidden wealth to which his ex-wife points actually exists'.

She also disputed claims by Mrs Mann that her ex-husband part-owned a flat in Eaton Place, one of London's most prestigious street, through an off-shore fund.

The judge said she was 'entirely satisfied' that the asset was long gone, along with the other trappings of the couple's once luxurious lifestyle.

Mrs Mann claimed that her ex-husband part-owned a flat in Eaton Place, one of London's most prestigious street, through an off-shore fund, but the judge said she was satisfied this asset was long gone

She added: 'I am unable to say that the husband has had, or currently has, the means to pay the sums which I have found due to her.'

The court was told how the former couple married in South Africa in 1988 before divorcing eleven years later when their two daughters were aged six and seven. They are now 21 and 22.

Mr Mann left his wife their £1.8m family home in Hampstead, but she said her finances went on to reach a state of collapse. She was forced to sell the property and has lived in rented accommodation since.

At one point, Mrs Mann and her daughters had been threatened with life on the street as they faced eviction from their Belgravia home over £50,000 in rent arrears, the court heard.

However, her ex-husband insisted that he was simply unable to help, having 'simply run out of money'.

I should record the sincere sympathy which I have had throughout for the wife. I accept that she is facing an extremely uncertain future Mrs Justice Roberts

He had withdrawn his son from private school at a critical point in his education, the court was told.

Relentless legal in-fighting then persisted, taking a 'very significant toll' on both Mr and Mrs Mann.

The former mining tycoon was now 'not a well man' and 'under the care of several different doctors', the judge said,

She added: 'Whilst the wife remained stoically composed for most of the time, her exhaustion and sense of complete frustration, if not desperation, were all too obvious to me'.

The judge said all attempts to settle their dispute - in court and through mediation - had ended in failure. Neither could afford a lawyer.

'I should record the sincere sympathy which I have had throughout for the wife. I accept that she is facing an extremely uncertain future', the judge said.

'No stone should be left unturned in the ongoing and collective efforts of the parties to find a solution to this problem which is not, in any sense, of her making'.

At an earlier court hearing, Mrs Mann claimed her ex had agreed to 'maintain' her 'for life', but had left her hanging 'between the devil and deep blue sea'.