Tim Bugler

A wealthy man whose fortune is at the centre of a legal battle was found dead, kneeling naked, beside the bed of his young Russian lover, a court heard yesterday.

Joss King, 55, was killed by a brain haemorrhage in May, 2006. Police initially treated the death as suspicious.

He was found by his girlfriend, failed asylum seeker Tatiana Chebotareva, 22, at a flat in Camden, North London, Stirling Sheriff Court heard.

Mr King's half-brother, Adrian King, 51, of Birmingham, said he was in Devon when he got a call from Ms Chebotareva. "She said he was naked, kneeling over the bed when she found him dead," he said.

He and his wife Jane went to London and found Ms Chebotareva "nervous and agitated". They left her flat in Plender Street, Camden, and went to another flat in Medburn Street, Camden, owned by Mr King, to see if there was a will.

As no will was found, Mr King's £500,000 estate passed automatically to his sister Dorje Khandro, 55, a Buddhist nun living in India. Ms Chebotareva, is suing Ms Khandro for a share of the wealth. She is seeking a £50,000 lump sum, and a flat in Maurice Avenue, Stirling, one of two addresses where she claims she and Mr King lived north of the Border. Adrian King told the court that after his half-brother's death, he and his wife asked Ms Chebotareva if she had keys to the Stirling property. He claimed she said she did not.

He said Ms Chebotareva was evicted from the London flat soon after his brother's death and he helped her move into a workshop which had been rented by his brother.

In August 2006, after Ms Chebotareva said she would be away, he and his wife travelled to Stirling and changed the locks.

He said: "She had no right to be there. I felt she had lied and been deceitful after we'd helped her."

Retired engineer Daniel Smith, 67, said Mr King, who followed both Scientology and the "Subud" movement, wanted to marry Ms Chebotareva and have children with her and live in Scotland.

The case continues.