Paul McCartney and Heather MillsPaul McCartney and Heather Mills‘ divorce hearing at the High Court is expected to run into a second week after failing to reach an agreement.

The estranged couple have so far spent five days behind the closed doors of Court 34 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in the hopes of agreeing on an “in principle” financial and custody settlement - but have failed to reach a compromise.

But, according to the Daily Mail, the extra time will not allow Heather to go into further details about Paul’s alleged violent and abusive behaviour during their four-year marriage.

Heather has previously claimed the former Beatle verbally and physically assaulted her during their time together but a legal source told the newspaper that the judge presiding over the case, Justice Bennett, treats behaviour during the marriage as irrelevant when it considering the financial details: “The court does not like to air dirty linen in public. What people have done wrong in a marriage is not going to weigh on a judge’s mind in deciding the size of a payout.”

A second source added: “Heather is better off sticking to the relevant issues such as her security needs and those of their daughter Bea instead of risking annoying the judge by wasting his time on other issues.”

The Mirror is also reporting that Paul was keen to stress the importance of Beatrice before the hearing started on Monday. A source told the newspaper that he sent Heather a bouquet of lilies ahead of the start of the session, with a note reading: “Please remember you and I are both human and have one very special person in common. Please let’s not forget this when we are in court.”

The source went on: “After Heather received the bouquet, it hit home that, at the end of the day, their priority was, and always will be, their four-year-old daughter Beatrice. In the days and weeks leading up to the divorce case, the pair of them were apprehensive about coming face to face in court.”

“But the lilies certainly helped in easing tensions between them ahead of what’s been a fraught week.

“No matter how acrimonious things get, both of them know that their daughter comes first.”