Suspended sentence for Christine Lampard stalker

A deluded stalker who left Christine Lampard too frightened to leave her home has escaped jail.

The ‘Loose Women’ presenter was terrorised by tweets and emails sent by bit-part actor Christof King, 39.

When King later turned up at the couple’s £10m mansion she was left so scared she had to cower in the bedroom, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

The aspiring actor believed was destined to share his life with the then pregnant presenter, 39, and was angered when she ignored him.

King, who claimed he was ‘God in human form’, even sent a letter to her dog Minnie saying it was nice to meet her in flesh, in the three-year campaign of harassment between January 2015 and September last year.

Mrs Lampard said in a statement that the campaign left her too scared to go out alone.

Passing sentence Judge Robin Johnson summarised her statement which said: ‘it has an impact on her day to day life.

‘The way she comes and goes, and it has made her think twice about various things and anxious about seeing him.

‘She said in effect she never goes out on her own and would make sure the gate was shut behind her before getting out of the car.’

Passing sentence he told King: ‘You caused her wholly unnecessary anxiety.

‘Those in the public eye are no doubt used to receiving contact from total strangers but they like everyone else are entitled to protection of the law when that contact moves from simple irritation to being criminal.

‘For whatever reason are responsible for sending some very nasty communications which would have been upsetting to anyone.’

Mrs Lampard said several tweets were ‘incoherent waffle’.

But they became ‘dark and sinister’ and after King turned up at the home she shared with former England star Frank Lampard, the couple called the police.

One threatened: ‘I can hear the screeching of the nails as I sharpen them for your crucifixion.’

Another stated: ‘I am planning the writing on your gravestone.’

Prosecutor Warwick Tatford read out the several letters King sent to the Lampard’s home in the sentencing hearing.

King sent one in December 2017 in which he asked the presenter to use her ‘contacts’ to help him ‘break into TV.’

He he said he would play the ‘adoring’ fan, which he added ‘is not very difficult believe me’.

King also wrote a bizarre letter addressed to the family dog, in October 2017, a day after he went to their home in which he said it was a ‘pleasure to finally meet you yesterday morning.’

He added: ‘I really feel we had a special bond.’

Mrs Lampard described the letter to her dog as ‘incredibly odd,’ but King claimed the letters were often sent ‘tongue in cheek’ and the letter to the dog proved his ‘weird sense of humour.’

In another letter, King said: ‘I think I am God in human form but here’s the thing: although I am God I do not have any magical powers because that would defeat the object of being human, wouldn’t it?’

King believed he was ‘special’ and could ‘broadcast his thoughts’ to people, especially the presenter, the court heard.

He first went to the couple’s mansion in January 2017 and Mr Lampard answered the door thinking it was a colleague he had with the same name, the court heard.

King was ‘leaning on the fence’ and began to explain that he felt there was ‘synchronicity’ between him and the Lampard’s because they ‘kept coming up in his book.’

When Mr Lampard firmly told him to leave King came off the fence and began ‘leaning towards’ him with an ‘angry’ expression.

King was eventually arrested 15 October 2017 and he told police there’s a ‘fine line between being pushy and harassment.’

The court has heard how Mrs Lampard ‘felt anxiety on the day King arrived at her address and she felt the need to hide behind the sofa’.

Frank Lampard, who recently became manager at Derby County, said in an earlier statement that his wife and their housekeeper, Chona Angel, ‘hid in the bedroom’ because they were so frightened.

He 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.’

King admitted sending some of the text but he was responsible for the disturbing and threatening messages.

At an earlier hearing he told the court he wanted to apologise for being ‘overly nice’ to Mrs Lampard.

King told the court: ‘She has always had an attraction for me.

‘I admire her work on TV and always have done.

‘What I am wanting to apologise for is being overly nice. What I have never been is malicious.’

John Oliver defending King said: ‘He has a delusional disorder which has over the years raised its head.’

King changed his name from Jonathan Dunningham in April 2016 to improve his chances of becoming an actor, the court heard.

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.

King, of Mowbray Road, Kilburn, northwest London, admitted one charge of stalking.

He was given a nine month sentence suspended for two years and was told to complete 150 hours unpaid work.

He was told not to contact Frank or Christine Lampard directly or indirectly or to go within 100 yards of their home.

Mrs Lampard 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.

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