‘Fantasist’ who stalked footballer back in court
A STALKER who became infamous over her obsession with Rio Ferdinand has been back before the courts after spitting in a hospital guard’s face.
Susanne Ibru – described as a ‘predatory’ and ‘manipulative fantasist’ – was jailed in 2011 after hounding the former United star.
The 45-year-old was banned from going near Ferdinand’s £5m family home after she repeatedly made a 400-mile round trip from London to Cheshire.
On one occasion, she turned up late at night by taxi and began pressing the intercom buzzer, telling police: “This is my house – my belongings are in there.”
Ibru, who now lives in Crumpsall, has been back in court having been convicted of spitting in a hospital security guard’s face during a row at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan after being discharged from a psychiatric assessment. During the incident, Ibru was seen ‘thrashing her arms about’ uncontrollably as she demanded to be allowed to stay and undergo further tests. She told the guard: “You are a piece of s*** and deserve to be spat on.”
As the guard and a colleague escorted Ibru from the hospital, she went on: “I am not going anywhere. You have no permission to touch me – all people from Wigan are racist.”
After spitting in his face, she added: “I warned you what would happen if you touched me.”
The guard had to undergo blood tests for a possible infection following the 6am incident last February 4 after Ibru’s saliva landed by his mouth. The results were found to be negative. Ibru appeared before a judge and two magistrates sitting at Bolton Crown Court, where she was appealing against her conviction for assault. She claimed the spitting incident was an accident caused by her having to clear her throat due to a chest infection.
She told the guard: “I have a black belt in kickboxing, so I could do some damage if I wanted to. Just because my hands are all over the place, it doesn’t mean that I am trying to hit you. My hands are all over the place now, it doesn’t mean I am trying to hit the judge.”
During her 2011 hearing, Ibru was branded a danger to Ferdinand as she was jailed for 18 weeks. The stalking campaign arose out of claims by Ibru that she had met the football star at the home of his stepfather’s mother in Peckham, London, in 1998.
In 2010, over a four-month period, she repeatedly turned up to Ferdinand’s home in the middle of the night claiming she needed to speak to the footballer to ‘resolve some issues.’
Ibru even told one officer she would be ‘packing up and moving in with Rio this week or next week,’ but the former England captain said he had no idea what Ibru wanted to speak to him about. He said her actions had left him alarmed.
Ibru who has previous convictions for wounding, criminal damage, assault, public order offences and possessing an offensive weapon had claimed she was an accomplished athlete with ambitions of becoming a sports agent.
But she was also said in expert reports to be ‘living in a fantasy world, unable to interpret social situations and boundaries.’ Ibru’s appeal hearing was adjourned.