Sinitta: Reality TV star punched and threatened to glass me as we ate lunch
WHEN Sinitta arranged a ladies’ lunch at an upmarket sushi restaurant, she was hoping it would be a chance to smooth things over with friends.
But the hoped- for civilised meeting ended up with reality TV star Dawn Ward allegedly shoving her in the chest, throwing a napkin at her, punching her in the face and threatening to glass her with a champagne flute, a court heard yesterday.
The pop singer, full name Sinitta Malone, and Ward clashed at Salmontini, an award-winning restaurant in Belgravia, Central London, on April Fool’s Day last year. The
‘She was shouting out rude things’
unseemly incident then led to a Twitter row and finally a legal battle.
Miss Malone, who is a close friend of Simon Cowell and is famous for her 1985 hit So Macho, had arranged the lunch to clear the air after ‘certain rumours’ had circulated among the group, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Ward, 42, who is married to exfootballer Ashley Ward and features in the ITV show Real Housewives of Cheshire, faces one charge of assault, which she denies. Wearing a black trouser suit, she sat behind a glass screen in the dock as prosecutor Christian Wheel i ker described i t as an ‘assault by beating’.
After CCTV footage of the incident was shown to the court, Miss Malone, 52, in a figure hugging grey dress, told the court how the argument with Ward unfolded.
‘She was angry about what I was saying,’ she said. ‘She has gotten angry and jumped up and shoved me. First of all she shoved me in my chest and the second time was like sort of hitting me in the face.
‘I was so humiliated and embarrassed because she was shouting out rude things about my friends and family. I was trying to diffuse the situation and save face. There were other people in the restaurant.’
She said the first shove was deliberate and ‘ hurt’ and claimed the second left her with a bruise on her cheek, although she could not be sure it was done deliberately.
Miss Malone said Ward, whom she met four years ago through their involvement with a charity, had earlier told her to shut her ‘effing mouth’.
‘She was interrupting,’ said Miss Malone. ‘At one point she threatened to put the glass in my face if I didn’t shut up.’ Miss Malone, who has regularly appeared on The X Factor, also claimed she was then left to pick up the bill after Ward told her, ‘You can buy my champagne, bitch’, and stormed out.
Miss Malone denied she had antagonised Ward by saying her husband was ‘unfaithful and *****ing around’.
Also at the lunch was their friend Lizzie Cundy, ex-wife of former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy, who left the restaurant with Ward.
Mrs Cundy told the court: ‘Sinitta, if I am right, said something regarding Dawn’s marriage, and then Dawn sort of got up and kind of shoved. It was on her shoulder.’
As far as she recalled Ward had not threatened to glass Miss Malone, but had said that she would throw her champagne at her if she did not stop lying. Lisa Judge, defending, said the meeting arose following some ‘tittle tattle’ about infidelity at an event on March 5 at the Reviv beauty salon in Cheshire. She said Miss Malone first tweeted about the attack 23 days after it happened, posting: ‘What kind of woman threatens to glass you in the face?’
Miss Malone told the court that following her tweet she was contacted by a woman who claimed she had been attacked and permanently scarred by Ward and realised she had had a ‘lucky escape’.
But Miss Judge said Miss Malone only went to the police on May 8 after receiving a threatening letter from Ward’s lawyers warning her about defamation. The trial was adjourned until June 10.