A woman who stalked the charts Craig David made him feel ‘violated’ in his own home, a court has heard.
Tanya Jeal, 31, showed up at the pop star’s home and hotel where he was staying, sent a letter to his family and messaged his friends on social media.
She was handed over a warrant to protect against stalking on Fridaypreventing her from contacting the musician for five years.
During a hearing at Bromley Magistrates’ Court, Jeal, from Orpington, Kent, admitted to contacting David and prosecuting him, but said she was just an “innocent fan”.
In a statement read in court by Flora Curtis, a lawyer representing the Metropolitan Police, Mr David said the incident “made me feel like I was being violated in my own home.”
“I want to be able to walk down the street without looking over my shoulder,” he wrote.
Ms. Curtis said the pair met during an album signing at HMV in 2016, where the singer spoke briefly with Jeal before taking a photo with her.
She said their next contact was later that year when Mr David was staying at Sofitel near Heathrow Airport.
The pair took another photo together before being escorted off the premises by his security, which Jeal says happened in 2017.
In his statement, Mr David said he could tell she was an “over-enthusiastic fan” and took a photo with her at the hotel to prevent her from contacting him again.
The court heard that in the years that followed, Jeal messaged him on Snapchat and continued to check out his Instagram stories as she traveled around India.
She also sent a letter to Mr David’s family, apparently ‘warning him’ that his manager was using him as a ‘cash cow’ and ‘didn’t care about him’, and that she thought the singer was communicating with her over the radio.
The court heard that Jeal went to a performance by Mr David in Bedford on Halloween last year.
Ms Curtis told the court she “threw a glove on the stage to get his attention,” something she claims to have done because “she says his favorite movie is Serendipity, in which someone hands someone a glove with a note in it.” ‘
On Nov. 21, Jeal showed up at his house, Ms Curtis said, with CCTV footage that would show her standing outside the property, holding the photo the couple took together at the Sofitel hotel.
She said Mr. David asked his housekeeper to speak to Jeal over the intercom in another language so she would think he wasn’t home and then leave.
Jeal stayed there for 10 minutes before going to a pub nearby. She later returned and was arrested.
The Metropolitan Police received a provisional stalking protection order (SPO) in December, banning her from contacting the star for a year.
Jeal, who represented himself at the hearing, told the court that the interactions “happened, but not in accordance with what he said.”
“Fans are generally madly in love with their idols. Any fan you speak to would say the same thing. They would do a lot of crazy things with their idols,” she said.
She told the court she lost interest in Mr David after she “learned about his sexuality”, and claimed to have found a YouTube video stating the star was gay.
Asked by District Judge Sushil Kumar whether it had been confirmed that Mr David had a girlfriend and whether that would make her change her mind about his sexuality, Jeal said: “It would be a cover.”
District Judge Kumar found that her behavior amounted to acts related to stalking.
He imposed a full civil SPO against Jeal, prohibiting her from contacting Mr David directly, indirectly or through third parties.
She is also not allowed to contact his parents directly or indirectly, she must ‘consciously’ keep 100 meters away from him and she is not allowed to go to a show or concert on a day when Mr. David is performing.
The order will remain for five years.
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