Man jailed for stalking Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Tweedy in Buckinghamshire

A man who stalked Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy has been jailed for 16 weeks after leaving the pop star “terrified” when he turned up at her home.

Daniel Bannister, of no fixed address, targeted the singer three times last year in the Chalfonts area of Buckinghamshire.

The 50-year-old was given a restraining order for turning up in January and saying “it’s Daniel, I’ve come to get Cheryl” and then returning in July asking for a glass of wine.

Having visited again in December, Bannister admitted harassment, and breaching and attempting to breach his restraining order and he has now been sentenced for those offences at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court.

Tweedy said she “immediately panicked” and “feared for my safety” after seeing him on a security camera at her property in December, the court heard.

As well as jailing him, District Judge Arvind Sharma replaced Bannister’s existing three-year restraining order with a new one that would run indefinitely.

The judge said Bannister knew the singer was “very distressed and upset” by what he was doing.

Tweedy, who was not present in court, said in a statement she was able to watch footage of Bannister via her phone after he rang her doorbell in December.

She added that she “immediately panicked” and “feared for my safety”.

“I knew this was Daniel because I have had previous incidents where Daniel has come to my property,” she told police at the time.

“I was concerned he was looking for a way into the property.”

Tweedy told officers her son was due back from the cinema, and she did not want him to see the stalker, the court heard.

“I want to protect my child from any harm,” she added.

Prosecutor Datta Ryan said Tweedy felt “violated, terrified and unsafe in her own home”.

The court was told Bannister used an intercom at Tweedy’s home in January 2024 and claimed he had “come to get Cheryl”.

Six months later, he again called at the house and said he was “really thirsty, I just want a glass of wine please”.

The most recent incident took place three weeks after the funeral of One Direction star Liam Payne, who was the father of Tweedy’s child.

Payne died after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October.

Colin Mackrell, mitigating, told the judge his client Bannister “knows he should not have done what he did”.

“He has formed in his mind an affection for her,” said Mr Mackrell.

The barrister argued the stalker did not pose a “direct threat” to Tweedy.

Kathleen O’Callaghan, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The unwanted attention of offenders like Daniel Bannister can leave victims feeling alarmed and fearful.

“Bannister plainly disregarded a previous restraining order, and the Crown Prosecution Service argued these deliberate breaches were made more serious by the fact that they were committed so shortly after the order was made.”

Bannister has already spent three months in prison on remand awaiting sentence and be could be released in a matter of weeks.