LONDON – It appears that Paul McCartney and Heather Mills aren’t headed for an amicable spilt after all.

Lawyers for Paul McCartney said Wednesday that the former Beatle will “vigorously” defend himself against allegations made by his estranged wife, Heather Mills McCartney.

The Telegraph reports that papers filed by Mills’ lawyers accuse McCartney of violent behavior towards his wife, as well as substance abuse. The Daily Mail reports that the papers were leaked to the Press Association.

“Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately,” the law firm Payne Hicks Beach said in a statement.

Among the shocking allegations are claims that McCartney grabbed Mills’ throat during one argument and that he stabbed her arm with a shattered wine glass during another. Mills also claims that McCartney was dismissive of Mills’ handicap, refusing to let her keep a bedpan by the bed to save her from having to crawl to the bathroom at night. Mills lost a leg in a traffic accident in 1993.

McCartney is also accused of trying to stop Mills from breastfeeding their daughter Beatrice, telling her “they are my breasts.” Other incidents mentioned in the papers have McCartney throwing Mills over a coffee table, pushing her while she was pregnant and lying around the house naked after drinking heavily.

Mills McCartney’s spokesman, Phil Hall, described the divorce proceedings as “highly confidential” and said he could not confirm whether the document was genuine. He said Mills McCartney had been “shocked” by the story in the Daily Mail.

Mishcon de Reya, the law firm representing Mills McCartney in the divorce, said it would not comment on “leaked or allegedly leaked documents.”

McCartney’s law firm said the musician “would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press but he recognizes, on advice, that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings.”

This is what McCartney has to say in a reply issued through his lawyers:

“Since the breakdown of his marriage Sir Paul McCartney has maintained his silence in not commenting on the media stories believing that it was best for all concerned, particularly his children, for there to be some dignity in what is a private matter.

Our client would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press but he recognises, on advice, that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings.

Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately.

Our client is saddened by the breakdown of his marriage and requests that his family is allowed to conduct their personal affairs out of the media spotlight for the sake of everybody involved.”