ITV LOOSE WOMEN'S DENISE WELCH’S LIFE 'PERMANENTLY SCARRED' AS STALKER IS JAILED
Loose Women star Denise Welch has spoken of her terror after a man was jailed for stalking offences.The former Coronation Street actress gave evidence over video-link from the US as Toraq Wyngard, 64, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, April 7.
The court heard that, just before 11pm on September 19 2020, Wyngard started a fire in a skip outside the home Denise shares with her husband, Lincoln Townley, in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Denise, wearing pink-rimmed glasses, pink lipstick and a yellow top, said she was alerted to the fire by her husband’s “piercing scream” when a member of the public knocked on their door after spotting the flames.
CCTV showed a man in a distinctive baseball cap looking around the property before appearing to pour an accelerant into the skip and set it alight, the Mirror reports.
Wyngard was later arrested nearby wearing the cap, covered in metallic pin badges, and police discovered a 4in (10cm) kitchen knife in his rucksack.
The court heard that he claimed to be a press photographer and police found two cameras in his bag.
Officers also found a number of cameras, both normal and covert, and binoculars during a search of his home address.
He also admitted charges of possession of a knife, criminal damage, and arson.
His sentencing was delayed after he later attempted to change his pleas, claiming he had been “pressured” into admitting the offences, the court heard.
His application to change his pleas was rejected but Louise Cowen, defending, said Wyngard maintained he was not guilty.
She said he suffered from bipolar affective disorder and had been failing to take his medication.
Sentencing Wyngard, Judge Michael Leeming said: “You have expressed not a single word of regret, not a single word of concern for your victims at all.
Your only concern is for your own interests.” He also made Wyngard subject to a restraining order, with conditions including not to enter Wilmslow.
