A DUNDEE man accused of reneging on a deal to give his ex-partner half his house in exchange for half of a massive bingo win admitted yesterday that he had refused to take 50% of the winnings as a straight- forward payment.

Taxi operator Alexander Bunce (47), of Fairfield Road in Broughty Ferry, told a civil hearing at the sheriff court that he wanted the full £103,247 to go into a joint account to fund their lifestyle.

Mr Bunce also told the court that he only told his former partner Karen Bryson he would put his house in joint names if a planned extension to the house went ahead.

Ms Bryson (40) is suing her ex-partner for a half share of his £175,000 home, claiming she agreed to share her £103,247 jackpot bingo winnings in exchange for Mr Bunce putting the house in joint names.

In that belief, she embarked with him on a lifestyle which included exotic holidays, such as a £10,000 Caribbean cruise, bought a £16,500 sports car and gave away thousands of pounds to friends and relatives.

However, the fairytale was short-lived and Ms Bryson claims that when the money ran out, she was shocked to discover that Mr Bunce had reneged on the deal to put his two-bedroomed Broughty Ferry house in both names.

Mr Bunce told the hearing at the sheriff court that after almost a year the relationship had broken down, nothing had happened and he pulled the plug on plans to put her down as the joint owner.

He said that had nothing to do with the fact all the money had been spent, apart from £14,000 which he had in ISAs.

Mr Bunce also claimed that other witnesses who said he had never lived with Ms Bryson at her previous home in Craigmount Road were all “liars.”

He agreed, though, that large sums of money on his credit cards, which had been run up before the bingo win, were cleared from the joint bank account.

He had earlier denied that a conversation with Ms Bryson’s mother on the night of the bingo win, about splitting the money and putting his home in joint names, had ever taken place.

Asked why he had not told his conveyancing solicitor about the planned extension and proposed purchase of a strip of land at the rear of the house from Hillcrest Housing Association until seven months after he first contacted him, he said, “I didn’t want to bother him about it in case Hillcrest said no.”

He agreed, however, that he had agreed unconditionally with his solicitor to put the house in joint names before Hillcrest had agreed to sell the piece of land.

He said that he was “jubilant” when Karen won more than £103,000 at the Mecca Bingo Hall in Nethergate, Dundee, in September 2000. He said they had gone “in on the bunce” (agreed to pool their bingo tickets and share any winnings) and he had paid for 12 books of tickets at the counter.

Asked by advocate Craig Thomson about his recollection of a discussion the court had earlier heard took place at Ms Bryson’s mother’s house regarding sharing the money and putting Mr Bunce’s house in joint names, he replied, “That conversation never took place.”

The court heard that after winning the money he had racked up over £11,000 on his credit cards—purchases from Dundee United FC and a sports shop, which he said was buying presents and clothes for her son Billy, plus several other stores for clothing and a £1000 deposit on a holiday to Florida.

He added that he had also paid for a previous holiday to Spain on his credit card.

He said it took approximately 10 days for the cheque to come through and they paid it into a joint bank account at the Abbey National.

He said he had moved into Ms Bryson’s home at Craigmount Road following a holiday to Spain in July 2000, two months before the bingo win.

Mr Thomson asked, given that there had been evidence to contradict that, how clear was he about living there.

He replied, “Very clear,” and added that he had asked Ms Bryson to move in with him to the flat in Castle Street, Broughty Ferry, a month to six weeks before the bingo win.

Solicitor Alastair Derrick, who had previously acted for Mr Bunce in house conveyancing, said he had met the couple in the street and they had told him about their good fortune and indicated they would be consulting him with a view to putting Mr Bunce’s house in joint names.

He said there were problems for almost a year with the Bank of Scotland in getting the title deeds but said that, ironically, at almost exactly the same time as the problems were ironed out, Mr Bunce called off the deal.

“It was uncanny,” Mr Derrick told the court. “It was almost simultaneous, as soon I got the go-ahead from the bank Mr Bunce called it off.”

Asked by Mr Thomson if he thought the timing was a coincidence he replied, “I can’t answer that, but it was the same time—within a day it was not going to happen.”

Ms Bryson’s mother Margaret Bryson told the court that the couple came up after the win to celebrate. She said she had never met Alex Bunce before.

“I was overjoyed and gave her a hug and asked her what are you doing with the money? She said he was getting half and I said, ‘What?’

“I was shocked and Mr Bunce said, ‘It’s OK, I’m giving her half the house.’ ”

On Monday Ms Bryson told the court that they had been seeing each other for six months when she scooped the national bingo prize on September 15, 2000.

She said Mr Bunce asked her to move in with him and, despite her mother’s misgivings, agreed to give him half the money for a half share of his house.

They opened up a joint bank account and used the bingo winnings to pay off Mr Bunce’s credit card debts of £8160, lavished money on friends and family and began doing up Mr Bunce’s home, while also transferring the mortgage into both their names.

However, she said, the transfer of the title deeds never happened and, since all the letters from Mr Bunce’s solicitor went to him, she never saw why it hadn’t all gone through.

“Once all the money had been spent, Mr Bunce had moved out and he forced me to pay rent.”

By January 2002, she and her son moved out and into a new flat.

Her advocate David Logan is claiming that “unjust enrichment” formed the basis of the case as the couple did not enter into a normal contract.

The hearing continues.