The singer who paired up with Shaggy for his iconic hit ‘It Wasn’t Me’ is locked in a bitter inheritance battle with his penniless half-sister over their father’s £1million fortune.
British-Jamaican vocalist Rickardo ‘Rik Rok’ Ducent, 52, is fighting a legal challenge from his half-sister, Sarah Ducent, who is claiming a share of the estate left behind by their father.
Herbert Duncent, who died aged 63 in 2007, left most of his £900,000-plus estate to his widow, Dorothy Duncent, after disinheriting his daughter, Sarah, whom he had become ‘estranged’ from – something she denies.
Herbert was an entrepreneur who established a successful construction company in Jamaica, as well as running a thriving bakery business in Coldharbour lane, Brixton. His estate is made up of assets in London and Jamaica.
The legal fight at Central London County Court pits Sarah against Dorothy, RikRok’s mother, who had worked alongside Herbert in his south London bakery business and inherited his wealth after his death 18 years ago.
His English estate mainly consisted of two neighbouring properties in Peak Hill, Sydenham, jointly valued at around £900,000.
His Jamaican assets have yet to be quantified in the UK courts, but Sarah claims her father owned significant real estate on the island.
Rik, whose birth name is Rickardo George Ducent, was previously a party to the dispute and gave evidence in court to support his mother’s defence to her stepdaughter’s claim.
In his will, drawn up in Jamaica, Herbert named his widow Dorothy, as his main heir, cutting out his daughter, Sarah, from whom Rik claims he had become ‘estranged’.
But Sarah, who says she is now living ‘on the breadline,’ has gone to court in a bid to secure ‘reasonable provision’ from her father’s estate in line with the terms of the 1975 Inheritance Act as a dependant.
However, if she is to succeed Sarah must first get over the legal hurdle of proving that her father was legally resident or ‘domiciled’ in the UK at the time of his death, with her claim liable to be struck out otherwise.
The key question for Judge Ann Evans-Gordon to now decide is whether the English courts have ‘jurisdiction’ to deal with the claim, or whether it’s a purely Jamaican issue.
Although Herbert died 18 years ago, the case brought by Sarah has been held up due to multiple factors, including delays in finding his original will and a previous UK court dispute which was settled on the basis that Herbert had not died intestate.
In the witness box, Rik was asked by Sarah’s barrister, Oliver Ingham, about his father’s life in Jamaica and the UK and his relationship with Sarah.
Rik noted that Herbert had multiple business projects on the go during his lifetime – including the Brixton bakery which he ‘turned into a highly profitable business’.
Quizzing him about the father-daughter relationship, the barrister suggested that Rik would have had little direct knowledge about what went on between the pair.
But he insisted that he had lived with Sarah at times during his childhood in Jamaica and added: ‘My father and I were quite close so we talked about Sarah.’
‘It’s not correct that after leaving Jamaica to come to the UK for college she was estranged from Herbert or that she cut off relations with him,’ Mr Ingham put to him.
‘That’s what he told me,’ insisted Rik, also claiming that the family friend with whom Sarah was lodging had called up Herbert to ‘complain to my father about her behaviour’.
‘On his next trip to the UK, he confronted her about it and an argument ensued,’ said the singer.
‘My father told me that she declared she wanted nothing more to do with him and he said ‘are you sure that’s what you want because if we’re done we’re done’.’
Sarah, however, insists that she and her father stayed close over the years, describing him outside court as a ‘brilliant man’ and saying: ‘I reject the idea of any estrangement.’
The 1975 Inheritance Act covering Sarah’s claim would only apply if Herbert was ‘domiciled’ in the UK, but her barrister claimed there was solid evidence that Herbert, although Jamaica-born, wished to base himself in London, having built up strong family ties and business interests here.
‘Sarah Ducent asserts that the deceased, her late father, was domiciled – or had acquired domicile by choice – in the United Kingdom at the time of his death in 2007,’ he told the judge.
‘Her position is that the deceased spent extended periods residing in the UK, becoming increasingly involved in UK-based business ventures and investments, having family in the UK and owning property in England.
‘According to Sarah, Jamaica effectively became a secondary residence for the deceased, primarily visited for occasional business checks or leisure.’
He said Herbert’s death had been registered in the UK in 2007 only a year after he renewed his British passport, suggesting he had recognised the UK as his domicile.
The delay of nearly 17 years in his family’s claiming Jamaican domicile for Herbert suggested a ‘shift in their position motivated by the litigation itself.’
‘Sarah refutes the assertion that the deceased permanently abandoned the UK after suffering a stroke in 1997,’ he continued.
‘In conclusion, the claimant respectfully invites the court to determine that, at the date of his death, the deceased had acquired and retained a domicile of choice in England and Wales.
‘The evidence presented demonstrates that the deceased’s substantial personal, financial and familial ties were anchored primarily in England and Wales at the material time.’
But Dorothy’s barrister, Jian Jun Liew, rebutted the idea that Herbert ever wanted to ‘anchor’ himself to the UK in his latter years, focusing on the fact that in 1983 he had moved his entire family back to Jamaica after spending 20 years in London working at various trades.
‘The relocation of Herbert’s entire family to Jamaica in 1983 was wholly consistent with the loss of any domicile of choice of England and Wales on the deceased’s part and the acquisition of a domicile of choice in Jamaica,’ he argued.
After two days in court, the judge has reserved her decision in the case.
In past interviews, Rik, who grew up in London and rural Jamaica, has explained how his love of music was sparked by hearing his parents sing, naming his dad as an inspiration and a ‘big reggae fan’.
‘Rik Rok’ co-wrote the 2001 chart-topping smash ‘It Wasn’t Me,’ singing the main vocals on the track which has clocked up over 1 billion plays on Spotify and was the best-selling single of 2001 in the UK, selling over 1.15 million copies that year.
In the song, Rik laments that he’s been caught ‘red-handed’ cheating on his girl, while Shaggy hands out some man-of-the-world advice, urging him to simply plead: ‘It wasn’t me’.
The hit, which reached number one in ten countries, carved out Rik Rok’s name as a solo artist, with critics praising his ‘honeyed’ voice.
He has said he never gets tired of playing ‘It Wasn’t Me,’ which brought about a major life change for him.
‘I was finally able to silence the detractors who thought I was wasting my life on this music nonsense and I also made my parents very proud,’ he told the Jamaica Observer back in 2023.
‘I was able to travel the world and see places it’s doubtful I would’ve seen otherwise.
‘Over two decades later, I still get recognised [and] can’t count the number of pictures I’ve taken and autographs I’ve signed for the nicest strangers you could ever meet. It’s allowed me to basically retire and focus entirely on raising my beautiful family. Eternally grateful for that.’
Meanwhile his sister, Sarah, says she is now living in poverty in London and that any cash from her dad’s estate could transform her life.
The former civil servant, who is now struggling to get back to work, said outside court: ‘I am hurt by the whole thing and I’ve lost my whole family.
‘My dad died, but on the day he died I didn’t think I would end up being in the position I am today going through all this heartache. I don’t have a step-mother anymore.
‘This money would make a great difference in my life, I am on the breadline right now.’