and will suffer if she has to leave her home, the Perot's Island trial heard yesterday.

Mrs. MacMillan, the multi-millionaire owner of the secluded island, has been taken to court by Canadian Michael DeGroote, who says she must stick to a deal to sell it for $8.5 million.

But her lawyer Mr. Julian Hall MP yesterday branded Mr. DeGroote an "aggressive businessman'' who paid little regard to a lady's right to change her mind.

Mrs. MacMillan will suffer great hardship if she has to leave Perot's Island, Mr. Hall told the court.

He said the 59-year-old Swiss citizen comes from a "dysfunctional'' family and has been through three failed marriages.

She has now "come out of her shell'' and wants to use the peaceful seven and a half acre island in Riddell's Bay as a therapy centre, the trial heard.

Introducing Mrs. MacMillan before she gives evidence, Mr. Hall described her as extremely private.

But she will testify because of her desire to hold onto her home, he said.

Mrs. MacMillan is the same age as Mr. DeGroote and like him is "extremely wealthy'', he said.

But he characterised the former truck-driver, who became boss of one of Canada's top firms, as an "aggressive, extremely experienced businessman''.

Mrs. MacMillan is the opposite of aggressive and at the time she met Mr.

DeGroote was not experienced in business, he said.

Mr. Hall said when she bought it in 1987, Perot's Island needed a lot of work to make it "less uninhabitable and more attractive''.

Later she decided she might like to put the island on the market, and continued to spend money on it, said Mr. Hall.

Then she "fell in love'' with the island again and changed her mind, he said.

"When Mr. DeGroote came onto the scene she was already in the process of changing her mind, or indeed had already changed her mind about the idea of selling it, for any price.'' Mrs. MacMillan instructed her lawyer, Government Senator Jerome Dill, to take the island off the market, said Mr. Hall.

But professionals involved in the deal paid little regard to her wishes and behaved as if trying to maximise their chance of making money, he added.

"Mrs. MacMillan was rushed into the making of a deal which she did not really desire to make.''