The grieving pop star and Liam Payne’s ex, Cheryl Cole, revealed she had to go to the police for protection for her son, as she fears he could be left without parents, after she suffered a stalking event at the hands of a convicted killer.
Cole said she was petrified by the experience and decided to urgently improve security at the $6 million mansion where she lives with her seven-year-old son Bear, according to a report by RadarOnline.com.
The British singer claims she suffered the attack at her home in a rural area of England while she is trying to come to terms with the tragic and unexpected death of the former One Direction star.
The terrifying stalking story against Cheryl Cole
Cole revealed that he was attacked by a man with “obsessive, fixated, unwanted and repetitive behaviour,” who has a criminal record for a 30-month prison sentence for a 2012 manslaughter case.
Her presence caused Cheryl to develop a very real fear that “her son could be left without parents if this behaviour were to escalate”, in a situation deeply complex for her and her son, as she is still “mourning the death of her son’s father” and found herself under the harassment of “a convicted murderer who stalks her while she is at home with her son”
The report states that she became aware of the stalker’s presence at two different events within a few weeks and noted that upon learning of the situation, she was deeply traumatized, so “she has reinforced security measures at her home to ensure that these worrying incidents are not repeated”.
The stalker was identified as 49-year-old Daniel Bannister, who was given an initial three-year restraining order against the star and served a brief four-month prison sentence in September for an offence he committed in July. The order prevents him from contacting Cole, entering Buckinghamshire, where the property is located, or even attending his home.
However, Bannister returned to the singer’s home in December, just weeks after Payne’s funeral in November. He has no fixed address and was accused of entering Buckinghamshire on December 10 and then appearing at “an address where he knew or believed Cheryl Cole may be present,” the complaint against him states
But he also tried to contact Cole, 41, despite the restraining order. Bannister pleaded guilty to three offences relating to the restraining order and was sent back to prison, where he is awaiting a new sentence on January 30.
In his previous incarceration in 2012, Bannister pleaded guilty to manslaughter after attacking Rajendra Patel, 48, at a YMCA shelter in Croydon, south London. Patel was seriously injured and admitted to hospital on March 9 and died the following day from a pulmonary thromboembolism due to deep vein thrombosis of the left femoral vein, caused by a recent fracture of his left ankle.