I’m planning the words on your gravestone
Stalker’s chilling threat as star, 39, tells of torment
A STALKER sent tweets to Christine Lampard about writing her epitaph, a court heard.
The terrified TV star, 39, said of the threats: “I don’t go out alone.”
Christof King denies the tweets.
PRESENTER Christine Lampard was left hiding in her bedroom in terror and too scared to go outside alone because of a stalker.
She thinks about it when she goes to work, closes her gate and when she gets out of her car JUDGE GILES CURTIS-RALEIGH AT A PREVIOUS HEARING ON IMPACT ON STAR
Christof King, 39, faces a possible prison sentence after bombarding the star with “strange” letters and turning up at her home unannounced.
Prosecutors yesterday said the aspiring actor also sent Christine “dark and disturbing tweets”.
One read: “I can hear the screeching of the nails as I sharpen them for your crucifixion.” Another said: “I am planning the writing on your gravestone.”
Christine, 39, told police: “I do not go out alone any more, I always go out with someone. I worry about him waiting for me to arrive home.”
The pregnant broadcaster, who was yesterday standing in for Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show Lorraine, may have to face King in court on Monday after he denied sending the tweets.
He has admitted stalking, but there will be a trial of issue to decide the facts before he is sentenced.
The court heard King believed Christine was talking to him during her TV appearances, and insisted they shared a “pre-destined emotional relationship”.
VULNERABLE
The presenter told police how she and her housekeeper “hid in the bedroom” when King was spotted loitering outside the £10million mansion in Chelsea, South West London, she shares with retired footballer husband Frank.
The former England midfielder told in a statement of the impact of the stalking on the couple’s lives.
He said: “It’s made us feel very vulnerable, she became flustered and very nervous and concerned for her safety.
“The housekeeper refers to her saying not to go outside because of the stalker.
“We have had to change our way of life due to Christof King’s behaviour.”
Last year Christine revealed how Frank, also 39, intervened to protect her from King when he booked into the same hotel as the couple.
She told ITV’s Loose Women: “There was a chap who had been trying to get in contact with me for a while.
“He thought we were married, in his mind. He randomly turned up at the hotel we were staying in, which does freak you out because there’s a sense that he knows where you are.
“Frank did go out and say, ‘Look, you’ve got to stop, this isn’t normal behaviour’, and we haven’t heard since.”
Prosecutor Alistair Smith yesterday told Isleworth crown court in West London how King believed he had a bond with the presenter, and sent her tweets for two months.
He said: “This is an allegation of a sustained period of harassment targeted against the complainant, who is a TV presenter, for two-and-a-half years.
“The motivation appears to be a belief that there is a form of bond or pre-destined emotional relationship and comments made by the complainant on television.
“There was two months of tweeting, 10 to 15 tweets, and they are described by the complainant as ‘dark and disturbing’.” At a previous hearing, Judge Giles Curtis- Raleigh said Christine found the contents of a letter King sent her “very weird”. He continued: “Asked how this has impacted on her daily life, she said she felt anxious and vulnerable. “She thinks about it when she goes to work and when she is closing her gate and getting out of her car. “It has made her think twice. Mr Frank Lampard says they both felt very uncomfortable and distressed by his behaviour.” The judge quoted from Frank’s statement, in which he said of King, “He has forced our family to
I can hear the screeching of the nails as I sharpen them for your crucifixion TWEET ALLEGEDLY SENT BY CHRISTOF KING TO THE TV HOST
I am planning the writing on your gravestone ANOTHER TWEET KING IS ACCUSED OF SENDING TO CHRISTINE, BUT WHICH HE ALSO DENIES
our way of life”, and, “I could see that Christine very anxious and shaken more than I have ever seen”.
John Oliver, defending, said King denied sending the tweets and said it was not a “continuous” campaign.
Christine gave a statement to police last year with the allegations about the tweets from King in 2015.
Mr Oliver said: “The tweets were sent two years before Mr King sent a series of letters to the home of the complainant, who feels they are strange. She feels the sending of the letters comes just before an escalation. He did visit her home, which did cause distress.”
Mr Oliver added of the tweets: “She blocked these tweets. There was then a period of two years before the letters were sent.
“She felt anxiety on the day he arrived at the address and felt the need to hide behind the sofa.” Chrischange tine is expecting her first child with Chelsea legend Frank, who was this week unveiled as manager of Derby County, signing a three-year contract.
He and Christine, who were not in court yesterday, met at the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards in 2009. They tied the knot in December 2015, in Knightsbridge, West London. Christine is stepmother to Frank’s two daughters from his previous marriage. King, of Kilburn, North West London, has appeared as an extra in a series of lowrent productions, student films and in Secret Cinema shows, which combine live performances with movie screenings. He had been due to go on trial on Monday but arrived at court yesterday to admit one charge of stalking.
But Mr Smith said the basis of that plea was not accepted by the Crown.
Judge Robin Johnson granted King bail ahead of the Newton hearing on Monday, which will determine the facts and the extent of the sentence that follows.
Judge Johnson said: “This basis of plea would limit culpability, and if there were adverse findings in a Newton hearing the sentence may be materially different.”
Stalking can result in a prison term of up to eight years.