Former Hear'Say star and Classic FM presenter Myleene Klass has spoken out about the 'horrific experience' of giving evidence in court last month, following a prolonged stalking campaign against her and a colleague.
The Stalker's Conviction
Klass appeared at Birmingham Crown Court in October, where Peter Windsor, 61, was found guilty of stalking both her and her Classic FM co-host, Katie Breathwick. The court heard how Windsor had sent a series of unsettling items to the radio station's central London studios between 2020 and 2024.
Myleene described her 'sheer terror' upon discovering the 'accumulation' of mail, which included fancy dress outfits and an air pistol. She told the court she had not been informed about the items initially, to avoid causing her unnecessary worry.
A Traumatic Cross-Examination
In an interview with The Times, Klass opened up about the psychological toll of the legal process, which she said she had 'underestimated'. She revealed that the cross-examination left her feeling as though she was the one who had done something wrong.
'Court was the most sobering part,' she stated. 'The way women who take the stand are made to feel they've done something wrong, to prove they didn't want these items and this attention.'
She was subjected to intense questioning, including being asked how she knew that the handcuffs and the gun sent by the stalker were real. 'It was utterly ludicrous point scoring,' Klass remarked, noting that police officers eventually had to be brought in to confirm to the jury that the weapon was indeed real.
Questioning the Victim's Response
One line of questioning that particularly stunned her was being asked why she did not simply tell her stalker to stop. 'That stopped me in my tracks,' she confessed. 'I had to admit it hadn't occurred to me to write back to my stalker and ask him to keep away. Their response was, like, 'Gotcha!''
Answering questions from prosecutor Timothy Sapwell during the trial, Klass described the items as a 'highly volatile selection'. She expressed the shock of seeing the extent to which the situation had escalated, calling the accumulated evidence 'pretty terrifying' and 'overwhelming'.
Peter Windsor had denied the stalking charges related to both Myleene Klass and Katie Breathwick.
