Divorce costs millionaire seven years in prison

A man who went to jail rather than paying his ex-wife a divorce settlement is to be freed after nearly seven years - one of the longest jail terms in a civil contempt case.

H Beatty Chadwick was ordered to pay $2.5m (£1.7m) to his ex-wife, Barbara, when they divorced in April 1995. But he claimed he had suffered heavy losses in an overseas investment and could not pay. The court rejected his claims and jailed him for contempt.

Now after nearly seven years, a court in Philadelphia has ordered that he be freed. "The duration of his imprisonment has crossed the line from coercive to punitive," Judge Norma Shapiro said. She ordered him to be freed on February 3 unless his ex-wife appeals.

Albert Momjian, a lawyer for the ex-wife, said she believes he has hidden the money - which could amount to $6m if unused - in banks abroad.

Mr Chadwick is adamant he does not have the money. "Finally I'll be able to get out of prison, where I have languished for too long," he said.

Odell Sheppard holds the record in a civil contempt sentence. He was jailed for 10 years in Chicago for refusing to cooperate in an investigation into his missing daughter in a custody case. He was freed in 1998, after his ex-wife died.