SA court dismisses Cathy Jayne Britten’s bid to have Soak House Adelaide property given to her

A former $19 million rich-lister has asked a court to give her “all the things” inside her shuttered Japanese bathhouse business – including she says, her own mother’s remains.

• The life of Cathy Jayne

 

Former $19 million rich-lister Cathy Jayne Britten has 18 days to pay an auction house $8500 and recover goods from her shuttered bathhouse which, she claims, are hers – including she says, her late mother’s ashes.

On Tuesday, the Adelaide Magistrates Court dismissed Ms Britten’s application that her former landlords be forced to return the items to her, and also pay her legal bills.

Ms Britten, who represented herself, told the court she had receipts proving she and her husband spent their personal funds, not that of their company, on the items.

“I want all of my things back because they are all mine – we own them, I had my mother’s ashes in there,” she told Magistrate Maria Panagiotidis.

Cathy Jayne outside her $5 million Medindie mansion in the early 2000s …

… and perched atop a bin outside her forcibly-shuttered Japanese-style bathhouse in August 2024. Picture: Supplied.

“I would like my things back and I would like them back how they were … we own them, we’ve got another location for them to go to, for the business to go on.

“We need them, we want them and they’re ours … we’ve already gone through an enormous amount of pain because of this, it would be a travesty to just dismiss this.

“I lived there, as well, on that property – myself and my children – and we got thrown out … you are for the law, and the law should return these things to us with costs.”

Ms Panagiotidis, however, ruled Ms Britten had no legal standing to file such a claim – and that, even if she did, her purported evidence was “deficient” and failed to prove ownership.

“Why would you pay, personally, for items that were going to be used for a company?” she asked.

“I don’t know much about running a business, but that doesn’t sound right to me.”

Ms Britten is embroiled in a dispute with her Richmond landlords, John and Anita Dente, over the shuttering of her business, Soak House Adelaide, for $9000 in allegedly unpaid rent.

Her Supreme Court claim against them was dismissed after she was arrested, and ultimately successfully applied for bail, over a number of unrelated driving charges.

Ms Britten outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Luke Rowley, for the Dentes, said his clients did not concede the property sought by Ms Britten belonged to her, as she claimed.

He said the majority of it – barring spa baths and fixtures that would incur a “$13,000 demolition bill” to remove – had been sitting at an auction house for some time.

“Those items will be sold off or destroyed after December 14, and my client has no interest in whether they’re owned by the company or Ms Britten,” he said.

“We have informed her that they are available and waiting for her, or any company representative, to collect – upon paying $8500 in storage fees.”

Mr Rowley said Ms Britten “had no standing” under law to file a claim, dubbed her evidence “manifestly deficient” and asked the court dismiss the matter.

Ms Panagiotidis agreed, but declined to order Ms Britten pay the Dentes’ court costs.

Outside court, Ms Britten said she intended to file a $450,000 damages claim, against the Dentes, in the Supreme Court.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.