Star Christine tells court of ordeal after being sent ‘sinister’ tweets
BY BEN ROSSINGTON TV STAR Christine Lampard told yesterday how a fan “turned a dark corner” to become a stalker who left her fearful in her own home.
The Loose Women presenter, 39, gave evidence to Isleworth Crown Court from behind a curtain so as not to have to face stalker Christof King.
Christine, married to Chelsea and England ace Frank Lampard, said she received disturbing messages on Twitter in 2015.
Sent from the now-defunct @Christ_ of_King account, the first talked about sharpening nails “for your crucifixion”, while a second said it was “planning the writing on your gravestone”.
“Several were quite sinister and dark and they made me sit up and pay attention. After this, I blocked Mr King.
“At that point, I thought, ‘This isn’t just a generic person getting attached, this has turned a rather dark corner.”
Obsessed with Christine since 2008, the court heard King, 39, began writing letters in 2014 before turning to Twitter and then calling at the Lampards’ Chelsea home unannounced. He wrote letters begging to meet the star or pleading for help to break into TV, before admitting: “I do fancy the a*** off you and worship the ground you walk on.”
King, born John Dunningham, thought himself “God in human form”, one letter said. But “MI5 and the media” were conspiring together to humiliate him, he wrote in another, and Christine was “the key” to helping him.
He admitted to the court yesterday he was sectioned in 2009 and said some of his words were as a result of a “relapse of a previous delusional disorder”.
According to notes found on his laptop, King’s obsession even took him to Belfast, from where Christine hails, one Christmas, hoping to meet her.
He said: “I never wanted to cause her alarm. I’m mortified that’s the reaction.”
King, of Kilburn, north London, has admitted a charge of stalking but denies being behind the most disturbing Tweets. The trial continues.