An interior designer who was cut out of her mother’s £2.5million will has won a legal fight with her brother to keep her home. Sunita Day, 45, who once dated Sir Terence Conran, was disinherited by her gambling-addict mother Pamela Russell. But a judge ruled yesterday that she was entitled to keep an £800,000 flat she had been given in 1995. Sunita Day, 45, (left) was disinherited by her mother Pamela Russell before her death in 2013 and everything was left to her brother Rajan Russell (right) The court heard that restaurateur Mrs Russell, who died in 2013, underwent a personality change after being diagnosed with cancer. She frittered away much of her fortune in casinos and turned against her daughter. Mrs Russell left her entire estate to Mrs Day’s older brother, investment banker Rajan Russell. He maintained the estate included his sister’s flat in Battersea, South West London. Mrs Day, who made headlines when she was in her 20s for ‘stepping out’ with designer Sir Terence, 38 years her senior, said the flat had been a gift to get her on the property ladder. Before her illness her mother, to whom she had been very close, often showered her with presents, she told Central London County Court. ‘She was always buying me things like mink coats and jewellery – you name it I had it,’ Mrs Day said. ‘I was spoilt... the flat just followed.’ But she said her mother’s gambling addiction turned her into ‘a harridan with a capital H’ and at one point she feared Mrs Russell would have her ‘bumped off’ to get the flat back. Her mother had given her a luxury £800,000 flat in Battersea, south London (pictured) 20 years ago but Mr Russell claimed it was part of his mother's estate . During her final years, her mother had visited casinos every night and even resorted to stealing gambling chips, Mrs Day claimed. She said she lived in fear of her multi-millionaire brother, whom she called ‘bully boy Raj’, and that he was jealous of anything their mother gave her. Mr Russell, 47, denied his sister’s claims. But after a four-day hearing, Judge Marc Dight ruled that Mrs Day was entitled to keep the flat, which had been ‘freely gifted’. He rejected Mr Russell’s claim that she merely held the flat as a trustee and ruled he was entitled to only a £55,000 stake in the property to reflect a mortgage paid off by his mother. Judge Dight also ordered Mr Russell to pay most of his sister’s six-figure legal bill. However he rejected Mrs Day’s claims that she had been put under ‘duress or undue influence’ by her brother and mother. He said Mrs Russell’s personality had changed after her cancer diagnosis in March 2010. In a document she wrote in May 2012 explaining why she had disinherited her daughter, she claimed Mrs Day ‘never came to see me while I had breast cancer and has been very disagreeable all her life since the age of 14. I feel like I have done three life sentences with Sunita’. The judge said: ‘By the end of her life, and certainly from the time she was diagnosed with cancer, Mrs Russell had a deep-rooted and unhealthy gambling habit. ‘She was very unwell. The evidence satisfies me that she was unkind to those around her, including Mrs Day. She was manipulative with her relatives and many of her friends.’ Judge Dight said Mrs Russell had tried to pressure and manipulate her daughter into giving her back the flat but Mrs Day had a ‘feisty’ determination to hold on to the property. Mrs Day (right, outside court this week) 'stepped out' with Sir Terence Conran (left) when she was in her 20s and previously gave an interview to a magazine which 'dealt' with their relationship .
Sunita Day, 45, was disinherited by her mother Pamela Russell in her will . When she died in 2013 everything was left to her brother Rajan Russell . Interior designer held onto an £800,000 flat in south London from mother . Banker brother claimed it was part of mother's estate and should be his . Mrs Russell had 'extreme gambling habit' and went to casinos every day . Judge Marc Dight ruled flat was freely gifted to Mrs Day and hers to keep .