Byline: ROBERT FAIRBURN EXCLUSIVE
NICKY Polcino started out as a penniless Italian waiter and built up a multi-million pound property empire in Scotland.
And at a time when most men were looking forward to retirement, he stunned stun his family by marrying an African beauty 46 years his junior.
But his new life in Kenya ended in tragedy on Wednesday.
The father-of-five died in a horror road smash near Malindi, by the Indian Ocean, when his car was crushed by a petrol petrol: see gasoline. tanker.
A business colleague was also killed in the crash, which happened on a straight stretch of road.
But his 21-year-old wife Anna, who was in the back seat and not wearing a seat belt, was miraculously thrown clear of the wreckage. She is now recovering in a Kenyan hospital as local police carry out an investigation.
The businessman’s family in Scotland have been told that the accident happened as he was driving back to his village with a friend and Anna, a penniless girl he allegedly picked up on a beach.
The petrol tanker approached them from the opposite direction.
Police believe the car clipped the tanker, then went underneath the huge vehicle.
Back home in Edinburgh yesterday, Nicky’s family were still trying to come to terms with his death.
Following Italian tradition, the curtains were drawn at the pounds 300,000 luxury bungalow bungalow [Indian bangla,=house], dwelling built in a style developed from that of a form of rural house in India. The original bungalow typically has one story, few rooms, and a maximum of cross drafts, with high ceilings, unusually large window and door in the Duddingston area of the city as 55-year-old Jackie Waller – the woman he fondly referred to as his “wife” – spoke of his remarkable rags-to-riches story.
Nicky, 67, had four children with Jackie during their 37 year relationship and another son from his first marriage in Australia.
Jackie revealed: “Anna has called to say what happened but I had to put the phone down on her, I just could not understand it.
“It appears to have been a tragic accident but we are all very upset about it.
“I told him he was a fool when he said he was getting married. The whole thing seems very suspicious to me but we will just have to wait for the investigation to be completed.
“We never married but we always said we would if either one of us was five minutes away from dying.
“He loved his dog, couch and the telly. He was very tight with money but a hard worker, mainly for the children. He was a typical Italian.”
Despite his shock marriage to Anna, Jackie insisted she was still on good terms with Nicky.
She said yesterday: “We spoke on the phone a lot. I think he got married so that Anna could go with him to Italy.”
The couple’s eldest daughter Amanda, 34, was reluctant to discuss her father’s marriage to the 21-year-old African.
She said: “What we have been told is that the accident happened on a straight piece of road.
“He was going back to the village and a petrol tanker was coming from the other direction.
“The car clipped the end of the tanker and went underneath the tanker.
“It has come as a shock to us all.
“The comfort we can take from this is that we have been told by friends he had just visited that on the morning he died he was in high spirits .
“He loved football and supported Napoli as well as Hibs.”
Nicky grew up in Italy but was disowned by his father for not following the family tradition of farming. Instead, he emigrated to Australia.
He had a son from his first marriage in Australia and then in 1960 decided to try his luck in Scotland.
Nicky arrived in Edinburgh clutching only a small suitcase and slept in Princes Street Gardens on his first night.
But he soon got a job as a waiter in an Italian restaurant and met Jackie in 1963.
They rented out the Antigua Cafe and later bought the Sorrento Italian restaurant and things took off from there.
He made millions building up a string of city centre properties in Edinburgh.
He leased it to a number of top restaurants including Vito’s (Now Cafe Rouge), Il Castello, The Orchid Restaurant and Rick’s. The family mingled with stars like Elizabeth Taylor – and Sean Connery.
They also had the Duchess of York Duchess of York is a title held by the wife of the Duke of York since the first Duke of York in 1384. The title is gained with matrimony alone and is forfeited on divorce. as a diner in their restaurants.
Nicky also owned a number of commercial properties in his native Italy as well as the 220 apartment holiday complex called Oasis in Malindi, Kenya.
But after falling for Anna and marrying her last summer, the split with Jackie caused bitterness within the family.
At the time their son Cosimo, 31, said: “As far as I knew, he and my mum were very happy.
“I can’t believe he would do this to my mum – especially after they’ve been together for so long.”
Cosimo claimed that his father had wanted to move Anna into their Edinburgh home but Jackie had put her foot down and refused to budge.
He had worked with his father at the holiday complex in Kenya but when he found out about the marriage he returned to Scotland with his Kenyan model wife, Linda, 22, a former Miss West Coast of Africa.
Cosimo said he had stopped speaking to his father due to the split adding: “I was very close to my dad but I was sick at what he did to my mother.
“I knew he had some young woman looking after him. She was a 21-year-old called Anna he’d picked up on the beach.
“I think my mother liked to know he was being well looked after because he had a triple heart bypass operation a few years back and had been told by his doctors to take things easy.”
A former business colleague said yesterday: “Nicky had fallen out with his son about the running of the business in Africa.
“He was out there to sort a few things out and he spent a lot of time there for tax reasons I think.
“I heard the accident was absolutely horrific hor·rif·ic and the two people in the front of the car had no chance.
“Nicky’s wife had been sitting in the back without a seatbelt and was somehow thrown out of the car and survived.”
An investigation by the Kenyan authorities is under way into the exact circumstances of the crash.
Arrangements are being made to fly Nicky’s body from Kenya to Italy for burial and a mass service is being planned for Edinburgh.
Nicky was a well-known figure in the Edinburgh Italian community and a large turnout is anticipated at his memorial mass service on a date still to be arranged.
Jackie said: “His plans were to eventually retire in Italy but he never knew when to stop working. He also loved this country and was happy here.
“He helped a lot of Italians to come to Scotland who later turned out to be successful businessmen here.
“Nicky was well known for his moaning and groaning but if people needed help he was always there for them.
“We made a lot of sacrifices when we were younger. There was never meat on the table as that was too much of a luxury.
“But we kept working hard and eventually got the rewards for that.”
Now a battle could be looming looming: see mirage. for Nicky’s fortune.
But Jackie said: “I hope it won’t come to that.
“I’ve spoken to my lawyer who has told me I was his wife for 35 years and it should be okay.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said last night they were still awaiting details of the fatal accident.
-Source: Scottish Daily Record
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