The tempestuous marriage of Paul and Sheryl Gascoigne will take just a few seconds to be ended at the High Court in London, today.

The footballer's wife, who is alleged to have suffered a beating by her husband at Gleneagles, four months after they married, is expected to be granted a ''quickie'' divorce on the grounds of Gascoigne's unreasonable behaviour.

There are likely to be long legal battles over the size of her financial settlement with Gascoigne, 31, who is said to be worth about #5m. But Sheryl, 33, who began the divorce action in July last year - a year after the marriage - is expected to be granted custody of the couple's two-year-old son Regan.

She has two other children, Mason, eight, and Bianca Jade, 11, from her first marriage.

The Middlesbrough star turned to Sheryl after a period of separation when he was rejected by England for the World Cup in June.

He visited regularly at her home in Stanstead Abbots, Hertfordshire, and went on a holiday with her to Florida. But hopes of a reconciliation were not realised.