Mysterious deaths of Scot Young and other associates of Candy brothers made me fear for my husband’s life, wife tells court

He ended up paying back more than £37 million on the two-year loan after signing a series of finance deals. He is seeking £132 million for lost profits, over-payments, legal costs and aggravated damages.

The married father-of-three claims Christian Candy repeatedly threatened to destroy his life and ruin his business during a campaign of blackmail and intimidation which left him fearing for his own life. 

Mrs Holyoake said she feared her husband might be killed because of the mysterious deaths of other men associated with the Candys. 

She said: "I used to worry constantly that Christian might take steps to hurt or even kill Mark when Mark travelled on business. 

"I used to warn Mark constantly to take care, to ensure that he wasn't being set up, to make sure he kept himself as safe as possible.

"I thought that the simplest way for Christian to resolve his issue with Mark would just be to get rid of Mark.  "This is not as outlandish as it seems. There are men in the Candys' extended circle who have died mysteriously."

Mrs Holyoake named: Paul Castle, the millionaire property tycoon who leapt to his death in front of a London Underground train in November 2010; Scot Young, who fell to his death from his fourth floor flat in 2014; and Boris Berezovsky, who was found hanged in his bedroom in 2013.

An email between the Candy brothers which referred to a man named 'Knuckey' also suggested Christian was thinking of sending thugs to Ibiza, told the court.

Mrs Holyoake said: "I can only assume (this was to) harm or intimidate Mark, myself or our children. It is chilling to realise that my concerns at the time really appear to have been very close to the mark".

Entrepreneur Mr Holyoake claims he trusted the Candys because he shared a house with Nick at university and thought of him like a brother, but Mr Holyoake claims the highly secretive brothers acted like Bond villains after lending him £12 million to finance his property deal.

He also claims the property mogul even made threats against his pregnant wife Emma, who had previously suffered a miscarriage. 

Revelations about a strained relationship between the wealthy brothers and their wives have also emerged during the court case. 

The court heard on Tuesday that Christian Candy, 42, bullied his older brother Nick Candy and disliked his popstar and actress sister-in-law Holly Valance.

Mrs Holyoake told the court her own friendship with Ms Valance became a casualty of the dispute between the husbands. 

She added that Ms Valance had told her that Christian's wife, Emily, had allegedly suggested at a dinner that the actress had a "dubious" background and tried to dissuade her brother-in-law from marrying her.

Mrs Holyoake said Ms Valance revealed that Christian had referred to her at a party in Ibiza in 2012 by saying "if she sees me coming she better f------ cross over onto the other side of the road".

She claims she became friends with Holly Valance after meeting her for the first time in 2009 and later bet the actress £200 that Nick would propose.

"We were among the first friends they contacted personally when they got engaged and I was genuinely happy for them," Mrs Holyoake told the court.

His wife Emily also suggested the actress had a "dubious" background and tried to dissuade Nick, 44, from going ahead with the marriage, Mrs Holyoake claimed.

She also told the court: "Holly told me that Nick was bullied by Christian, that Christian was controlling and often spoke to Nick in a disrespectful and aggressive manner.

"Nick began to open up and agreed that his brother often barked orders at him. Christian dominated him, but Nick being Nick used to laugh it off and say he could handle Christian.

"To say there was no love lost between Christian and Holly would be an understatement. I don't know the origin of that dislike but Holly and Christian's wife Emily did not get on at all".

Christian spoke to Nick in "a disrespectful and aggressive manner" and on one occasion the abuse left his brother weeping while lying "in a foetal position on the floor of a hotel room", the hearing was told.

In her statement to the court, Emma Holyoake, who lives in Ibiza, said that the Candy brothers would never be part of her life again as a result of the threats her husband received.

She told the hearing: "What kind of human threatens violence against a pregnant woman and her children? "What kind of man threatens to exert so much pressure that a woman could potentially suffer another miscarriage?

"Sadly the Candys are without shame and so driven by the love of money they have lost all sense of decency. There is no depth they will not plumb, no stunt they will not pull, no lie they will not tell."

The Candy brothers deny all of Mr Holyoake's allegations and claim he has invented the threats in a deliberate attempt to extract money from them. The hearing continues tomorrow when the brothers are due to give evidence.

A spokesman for the brothers said: "Emma Holyoake has accepted in evidence that her statement is based on information provided to her by her husband whose claims are denied in their entirety.

"The statement has the sole purpose of causing reputational damage to the defendants.

"The defendants remain committed to having these matters decided at trial by the judge."