An actor who bombarded Christine Lampard with chilling tweets and repeatedly loitered outside the mansion she shares with husband Frank is facing jail after today pleading guilty to stalking.
Christof King, 39, from London, sent the star a series of tweets and emails about crucifixion and ‘planning the writing for her gravestone’ as part of a three-year campaign of harassment between January 2015 and last September.
Christine – who last month announced that she is expecting her first child with former Chelsea FC star and England captain Lampard – also received letters from King during the campaign.
He even went to the couple’s £10million Chelsea mansion several times, leaving the TV presenter so frightened she had to hide in their bedroom. King believed it was his destiny to be with the presenter, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
The Lampards were not present at court today to see King, who will be sentenced on Monday, admit one charge of stalking.
Christine was in fact presenting the Lorraine show on ITV, but she revealed her ordeal in a statement read out in court.
She said she is now too terrified to leave her house by herself. ‘I do not go out alone anymore – I always go out with someone,’ the statement said.
The court was also told how Christine ‘felt anxiety on the day he arrived at her address and she felt the need to hide behind the sofa’.
Christof King (left, arriving at court today), 39, from London , sent Christine Lampard (right, presenting Lorraine on ITV this morning) a series of tweets and emails about crucifixion and ‘planning the writing for her gravestone’ as part of a three-year campaign of harassment
Frank said in a statement that Christine and the housekeeper, Chona Angel, ‘hid in the bedroom’ because they were so frightened
In a separate statement also read out in court, Mr Lampard told how King turned up to their mansion on October 13 and his wife was horrified to see the stalker loitering at their front gate.
He said his wife and the housekeeper, Chona Angel, ‘hid in the bedroom’ because they were so frightened.
Mr Lampard added: ‘It has both made us feel very vulnerable, she became flustered and very nervous and concerned for her safety.
‘I could see that Christine was very anxious and shaken more than I have ever seen.
‘The housekeeper refers to her saying not to go outside because of the stalker.’
Prosecutor Alistair Smith told Isleworth Crown Court King believed it was his destiny to be with the presenter.
‘The motivation appears to be a belief that there’s a form of bond or pre-destined emotional relationship,’ he said.
Last year Christine revealed how her retired footballer husband, 39, intervened to protect her from King when he booked into the same hotel as the couple.
Their nanny shouted at King after spotting him in the garden in recent weeks The couple live in a £10m terraced property in Kensington, west London (pictured)
Mrs Lampard had 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.’
The tweets sent by King included one which read ‘I can hear the screeching of the nails as I sharpen them for your crucifixion’ and another which said: ‘I am planning the writing on your gravestone.’
John Oliver, defending, said King denies ever sending the tweets and claimed it was not a ‘continuous’ campaign.
King appeared in court on February 19 to apply to have the charge against him dismissed.
His counsel on that occasion, Danielle Barden, said it was not accepted that King caused Mrs Lampard ‘serious distress’ and therefore a jury could not reasonably convict.
Well-spoken King has appeared as an extra in a series of low-rent productions, student films and in Secret Cinema shows.
Those shows combine live performances with movie screenings.
Christine tied the knot with the Chelsea legend on 20 December 2015 in Knightsbridge, after meeting the retired footballer at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2009.
She is step-mother to Frank’s two daughters from his previous marriage.
Judge Robin Johnson granted King bail before sentencing on Monday.
He said: ‘I am adjourning this matter until Monday and if you have any doubts of what will happen I’m sure Mr Oliver will tell you.
‘The terms of your bail are as they have been before.’
King from Kilburn admitted one charge of stalking.