Ex-ITV newsreader ‘was so terrified by her obsessed neighbour she was forced to move’
A FORMER TV news presenter wept as she told a court her obsessed neighbour terrorised her so badly she fled her home.
Isla Traquair said she suffered nightmares and panic attacks due to the attentions of Jonathan Barrett, 53.
Miss Traquair, who worked on ITV News and Channel 5 News, became terrified of Barrett shortly after moving into her 18th century cottage near Corsham, Wiltshire, in March last year.
He climbed the wall into her garden and entered her house to offer her a salmon sandwich, Salisbury magistrates heard. On another occasion, as she was about to undress to wash in the sink at 7am – her bathroom was being renovated – Barrett appeared at her conservatory window.
‘I was about to take my clothes off... and John was standing directly outside my conservatory facing me,’ said Miss Traquair, 42. ‘This was deeply disturbing. Regardless of whether or not I had my clothes on, he shouldn’t be standing there staring into my property at 7am.’
She became so fearful she fortified her home with fences and security cameras. Barrett was filmed standing at his van and staring into her bedroom window, she said. He also followed her home, prompting her to take a detour.
Barrett was arrested by police and released. Three days later he was seen on camera walking around the front of her home in his dressing gown taking pictures, the court heard.
Miss Traquair left the house in September and has not returned, staying on friends’ sofas. She told the court: ‘It has
‘Affected every part of my life’
affected every part of my life. I can’t live in my home.’ In 2008, Miss Traquair’s appointment as Channel 5’s 7pm news anchor led to a reported £250,000 age discrimination payout to Selina Scott, who had been lined up as maternity cover for Natasha Kaplinsky, only for the younger Miss Traquair to get the job.
Barrett, who lives in a £380,000 home next to Miss Traquair’s, denies stalking. The trial continues.