By . Luke Salkeld . PUBLISHED: . 11:47 EST, 8 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:50 EST, 8 May 2013 . Rags to riches: Ecotricity boss Dale Vince who won his application to strike out a compensation claim by his ex-wife . In the 21 years since his divorce from Kathleen Wyatt, former hippy Dale Vince has built one of the UK’s biggest green energy companies and made millions. Meanwhile Miss Wyatt – a woman said to have a penchant for penniless men – has struggled financially. Yesterday her attempt to claim a £2million share of Mr Vince’s fortune was thrown out by a court after a judge said the former New Age traveller turned wind farm tycoon was not ‘her insurer against life’s eventualities’. Senior family judge Lord Justice Thorpe added that she had left her claim – amounting to around £100,000 for every year since she divorced him in 1992 – far too late. The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Jackson and Lord Justice Tomlinson in the Appeal Court in London, allowed Mr Vince’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to strike out Miss Wyatt’s claim. Lord Justice Jackson said: ‘In the family context, there is no statutory bar to bringing a claim for financial relief ten, 20 or even 30 years after the divorce. ‘Nevertheless, the court should not allow either party to a former marriage to be harassed by claims for financial relief which are issued many years after the divorce and have no real prospect of success. 'It must be an abuse of the court’s process to bring such proceedings. The present case is a classic example of such abuse.’ The court heard that the couple married in 1981, when Miss Wyatt already had a daughter from a previous relationship, and lived largely on benefits. They had a son but separated after only three years. Mr Vince, 51, was later living in an old ambulance when he made a wind turbine out of retrieved and recycled materials to generate his own energy. Mr Vince with his £1million electric supercar: His ex-wife Kathleen Wyatt claimed she tried and failed to get him to pay her maintenance and child support . Grand: The £3million, 18th-century fort occupied by Dale Vince, who had faced a £125,000 legal bill . From that grew Ecotricity, which he founded in 1995. Mr Vince’s legal team argued that when he and Miss Wyatt were divorced his unlikely business empire was years in the future and he had hardly a penny to his name. The money he subsequently made has allowed him to indulge his love of sports cars and he now lives in £3million, 18th century Rodborough Fort, near Stroud, Gloucestershire. He has remarried and has a four-year-old son. Living the high life: Mr Vince, centre, now runs a successful business Ecotricity which is worth several million . In contrast Miss Wyatt, 53, of Monmouthshire, is said to have travelled to a hearing in the case last month by getting up early to use the bus and sleeping in the bus station. Lord Justice Thorpe said yesterday of Miss Wyatt, who found a new partner in 1993 with whom she had two children: ‘Impecuniosity has been the experience of all the wife’s adult life. Both the men with whom she has entered into family life were seemingly equally impecunious. ‘Her husband was the most improbable candidate for affluence. She can no doubt appeal to his sense of charity but in my judgment he is not to be compelled to boost her income.’ 'Considerable enterprise': Mr Vince in the Nineties set up a wind energy business with a new girlfriend that developed into Ecotricity, now a massive player in the UK's eco energy sector, with over 70,000 customers .
Dale Vince today won court battle against wife claiming financial support .
He says he had practically no income when the couple divorced in 1992 .
Now he lives in a £3million 18th century fort in Stroud, Gloucestershire .
The pair have a son and a step-daughter born in her first marriage .
By . Luke Salkeld . PUBLISHED: . 11:47 EST, 8 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:50 EST, 8 May 2013 . Rags to riches: Ecotricity boss Dale Vince who won his application to strike out a compensation claim by his ex-wife . In the 21 years since his divorce from Kathleen Wyatt, former hippy Dale Vince has built one of the UK’s biggest green energy companies and made millions. Meanwhile Miss Wyatt – a woman said to have a penchant for penniless men – has struggled financially. Yesterday her attempt to claim a £2million share of Mr Vince’s fortune was thrown out by a court after a judge said the former New Age traveller turned wind farm tycoon was not ‘her insurer against life’s eventualities’. Senior family judge Lord Justice Thorpe added that she had left her claim – amounting to around £100,000 for every year since she divorced him in 1992 – far too late. The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Jackson and Lord Justice Tomlinson in the Appeal Court in London, allowed Mr Vince’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to strike out Miss Wyatt’s claim. Lord Justice Jackson said: ‘In the family context, there is no statutory bar to bringing a claim for financial relief ten, 20 or even 30 years after the divorce. ‘Nevertheless, the court should not allow either party to a former marriage to be harassed by claims for financial relief which are issued many years after the divorce and have no real prospect of success. 'It must be an abuse of the court’s process to bring such proceedings. The present case is a classic example of such abuse.’ The court heard that the couple married in 1981, when Miss Wyatt already had a daughter from a previous relationship, and lived largely on benefits. They had a son but separated after only three years. Mr Vince, 51, was later living in an old ambulance when he made a wind turbine out of retrieved and recycled materials to generate his own energy. Mr Vince with his £1million electric supercar: His ex-wife Kathleen Wyatt claimed she tried and failed to get him to pay her maintenance and child support . Grand: The £3million, 18th-century fort occupied by Dale Vince, who had faced a £125,000 legal bill . From that grew Ecotricity, which he founded in 1995. Mr Vince’s legal team argued that when he and Miss Wyatt were divorced his unlikely business empire was years in the future and he had hardly a penny to his name. The money he subsequently made has allowed him to indulge his love of sports cars and he now lives in £3million, 18th century Rodborough Fort, near Stroud, Gloucestershire. He has remarried and has a four-year-old son. Living the high life: Mr Vince, centre, now runs a successful business Ecotricity which is worth several million . In contrast Miss Wyatt, 53, of Monmouthshire, is said to have travelled to a hearing in the case last month by getting up early to use the bus and sleeping in the bus station. Lord Justice Thorpe said yesterday of Miss Wyatt, who found a new partner in 1993 with whom she had two children: ‘Impecuniosity has been the experience of all the wife’s adult life. Both the men with whom she has entered into family life were seemingly equally impecunious. ‘Her husband was the most improbable candidate for affluence. She can no doubt appeal to his sense of charity but in my judgment he is not to be compelled to boost her income.’ 'Considerable enterprise': Mr Vince in the Nineties set up a wind energy business with a new girlfriend that developed into Ecotricity, now a massive player in the UK's eco energy sector, with over 70,000 customers .
Rags to riches: Ecotricity boss Dale Vince who every year since she divorced him in 1992 – far court heard that the couple married in 1981, when had a son but separated after only three years. maintenance and child support . Grand: The sports cars and he now lives in £3million, 18th century Rodborough Fort, near Stroud, Gloucestershire. He has remarried and has a