‘She leaves me in fear’: Craig David speaks out after being stalked by a super-fan for five years

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Craig David said he has been left feeling “violated and uncomfortable” in his own home after an obsessed super-fan stalked him for five years.

The Seven Days singer said he wants to be able to “walk down the street without looking over my shoulder” following the campaign by infatuated 31-year-old Tanya Jeal.

Jeal turned up at the singer’s home in November last year and repeatedly buzzed his intercom system while holding up a picture of the pair taken more than five years ago.

At a concert last October she stood still in the audience “dressed as Beyonce” holding up the same photo and threw a glove at him on stage.

She believed this was a reference to the film Serendipity, which she thought was his favourite movie.

More than five years ago she booked into the same hotel as the star and posted messages through the door saying things such as “you are an a***hole” and that she was his “motherf***ing girlfriend”, a court heard.

He opened up his door to Jeal and she was said to have asked him to come back to his room.

Later she wrote a letter to his parents claiming his management team were turning him into a “cash cow”.

The defendant, who is an author from Orpington, Kent, is said to have bombarded his management team with abusive messages.

Mr David said in a witness statement read to the court he was left fearful and scared about the “serious harm” she could cause.

He wrote: “The whole series of incidents have left me feeling violated and uncomfortable in my own home, particularly given the bipolar nature of the messages.

“She leaves me in fear. I have seen a number of situations where serious harm has been caused to other celebrities.

“I want to be able to walk down the street without looking over my shoulder and this woman is the only woman who has made me feel this way.

“When it started I tried to see her as a fan who was perhaps over-excited and I let her take a photograph of me.

“I hoped this would be enough. Her behaviour has since turned into something far more scary.”

Mr David had an interim Stalking Protection Order put in place in December which bans Jeal from contacting him.

A district judge at Bromley Magistrates Court in south east London will later today (FRI) decide whether to impose a permanent one.

Jeal has not contacted him since the order has been imposed but said she has stopped her behaviour because she believes he is gay rather than because of the order.

She claims she found this out in December after pals alerted her to a video on YouTube.

Appearing unrepresented in the area of Bromley Magistrates Court today (Fri) where defence lawyers normally sit, she spoke to confirm her name, date of birth and address and addressed the judge repeatedly on points before taking the stand later.

She did not appear too phased and showed little emotion as she sat with a crutch on her right hand side in striped grey and white shirt under a black sleeveless top, grey trousers, green sandals and glasses during the morning part of the full day hearing.

She told an earlier hearing in January that she did not want a full order imposed, which is a civil matter, but did not set out clear reasons why.

Today it emerged she accepts that most of the events happened but believes her actions were those of an “ordinary fan”.

Flora Curtis, representing the Metropolitan Police as the case is a civil matter rather than criminal, told the court the pair first met at an album signing at an HMV in 2016.

The pair took a photograph together at what was a normal album signing with about 300 others there.

Then, in either 2016 or 2017, they had another interaction at a hotel near Heathrow Airport.

Ms Curtis claimed she knocked on his door and wrote a note saying things such as “you are an a***hole” and called herself his “motherf***ing girlfriend”.

Their direct contact stopped until 2021 but she still contacted him or his management indirectly, and sent the letter to his parents.

She said that they met in HMV and that he was communicating with her through the radio, as well as making “various criticisms” of his management team, and said that when she went to the hotel she was unable to see him.

Jeal moved to India between January 2020 and July 2021 and stayed with a couple she said treated her badly.

She still commented on Mr David’s Instagram posts and listened to his music.

In October 2021 she held up a photograph of him and threw a glove towards the stage.

She said she dressed up as Beyonce and that throwing the glove was a reference to the film Serendipity.

Last November 21 she turned up at his home and Mr David said he was holding a photograph of them together.

He said she was there for around 10 minutes and took a photograph.

She also had a letter which she said she wanted to read to him, the court heard.

Jeal pressed the intercom and one of his staff answered it in another language. Mr David said he asked them to do this to make her go away.

Jeal left but returned and sent pictures to someone called Grant on Instagram, the court was told.

Ms Curtis said: “She relentlessly contacted Mr David.

“She disputes that her actions were those of an ordinary fan. She relentlessly contacted him and on occasion found out where he was staying.

“She has obtained his parents address and it is unclear how she did that. Suggestions they had a relationship are fanciful.

“She appears to be obsessed with Mr David. This has gone on for a number of years.

“She says fans are supposed to be infatuated with their idols and suggests other celebrities such as Elvis had to go through much worse than Mr David.

“She says the letter to his parents was sweet and embarrassing but not concerning.

“From her statements she seems to have taken a dislike to him and says he brainwashed her into believing he was straight.”

Ms Curtis said she believes the any order made should ban her from contacting the star for life.

In her evidence, she also told the court she believed her actions were those of an ordinary fan and said she now believes her idol is gay after watching a YouTube video.

She told the court: “I was an innocent fan. Fans get infatuated with their idols.

“Anyone who is a fan of anyone would say the same thing.

“I would not have been stalking him or anything like that if I knew what I know about him and will not turn up again at his concerts because of that.”

Earlier she told the court her that when they first met she did not realise he had put her hand on his thigh, asked her for chewing gum and they took a picture together.

Jeal said at the hotel Mr David came to the door of his room, they took a photograph together and he spoke to her pal Jessica on the phone.

Jeal added: “I said ‘come to my room later on’ or something.’

That morning the star posted on Snapchat and she said, “maybe he was excited to see around that tine” but she was escorted out of the premises soon after.

Earlier her friend Louise from Brooklyn, New York, had told her Mr David had “a gift” to give her and that they should be a couple.

She also said Mr David’s managers treated him as a “cash cow”.

In evidence to the court today, Jeal mostly repeated what was said in written statements and had to repeatedly be told by District Judge Sushil Kumar to stick to saying things he did not already know.

A ruling on whether to impose the order is expected later today.

At the earlier hearing she tried to get reporting restrictions imposed but that bid was immediately rejected by the judge.

David, who is a judge on ITV talent show Walk The Line, received an MBE from Prince Charles for services to music on the same day the order was imposed in December.

He became famous in 1999 after appearing on the single Re-Rewind by Artful Dodger.

The following year he released his debut album Born to Do It, which sold 7.5 million copies worldwide and became one of the best-selling albums from a British R&B artist of all time.

The Southampton-born star has since released five more albums.

Jeal has written a novel called Trophy Hunting, It’s Killing Business.