LONDON – World Music Views
British-Jamaican singer Rickardo “Rik Rok” Ducent, best known for his chart-topping collaboration with Shaggy on the 2001 global hit “It Wasn’t Me”, has been drawn into a protracted legal dispute over his late father’s nearly £1 million estate.
According to the Independent, the 52-year-old vocalist, who co-wrote and sang the now-iconic hook that helped drive the song to over one billion Spotify streams, recently appeared in Central London County Court to support his mother, Dorothy Ducent, in a bitter inheritance battle initiated by his half-sister, Sarah Ducent.
Sarah, who claims to be “on the breadline,” is seeking “reasonable provision” under the UK’s 1975 Inheritance Act, arguing she was financially dependent on their father, Herbert Ducent, a Jamaican-born entrepreneur with significant assets in both London and Jamaica. She contends that despite being left out of his will, she maintained a close relationship with her father and deserves a share of his estate.
Herbert, who passed away in 2007 at age 63, left behind two properties in Sydenham, South London, worth around £900,000, and unquantified assets in Jamaica. His estate was bequeathed to his widow, Dorothy, who had worked alongside him in his bakery business in Brixton. Rik Rok, who was previously a party to the dispute, testified in support of his mother, claiming his father had become estranged from Sarah years before his death.
The legal wrangling hinges on a key issue: whether Herbert was legally domiciled in the UK at the time of his death. If he wasn’t, Sarah’s claim under British law could be invalid. Her legal team points to his British passport renewal and UK death registration as evidence of UK domicile, while Dorothy’s side argues Herbert maintained stronger ties to Jamaica, where he relocated the family in the 1980s.
Herbert Ducent left his fortune to Rik Rok’s mother, Dorothy Ducent (Champion News)
During testimony, Rik stated that his father had told him Sarah declared she wanted nothing more to do with the family after a falling out. Sarah, however, refuted claims of estrangement, calling her father a “brilliant man” and expressing heartbreak over the court case. “I don’t have a stepmother anymore,” she said. “This money would make a great difference in my life.”
Judge Ann Evans-Gordon has reserved her decision as the question of jurisdiction remains unresolved—nearly 18 years after Herbert’s death.
Though Rik Rok has largely stepped back from the spotlight in recent years, the success of “It Wasn’t Me” and other songs that he has written has provided him the means to focus on family life. He once described his father as a “big reggae fan” and a major musical influence.
Shaggy’s 2001 global hit “It Wasn’t Me,” featuring Rik Rok, became one of the most successful singles of the early 2000s, topping charts in over 10 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and France.
It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, UK Singles Chart, and the Eurochart Hot 100, among others. The song earned multi-platinum and platinum certifications across major music markets, including 4× Platinum in the UK (2.4 million units), 3× Platinum in Australia, Platinum in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and Gold or higher in over a dozen countries.
With more than one billion Spotify streams, it remains a defining moment in early 2000s pop-reggae, launching Rik Rok into global recognition and cementing Shaggy’s place as a crossover star.
