Cheryl Tweedy’s stalker breaches restraining order as he returns to Girls Aloud star’s house despite court order
A 50-year-old man who has been stalking singer Cheryl Tweedy has breached a restraining order by visiting a property in Buckinghamshire where he believed she was present.
Daniel Bannister appeared at a building on June 19, violating the court order that was imposed to protect the former Girls Aloud star.
Police arrested him at his bail hostel in Brixton, south London, following the incident.
Bannister appeared before Reading magistrates’ court last Saturday where he was remanded in custody. He returned to court yesterday and pleaded guilty to breaching the restraining order.
District Judge Davinder Sandhu refused bail and referred the case to Reading Crown Court for sentencing on September 23. Bannister could face up to five years in prison for the breach.
The harassment campaign began in January 2024 when Bannister first approached Tweedy’s mansion.
The former X Factor judge witnessed an unknown man on her doorbell camera saying: “It’s Dan. I’ve come to get Cheryl.”
He returned in July 2024, asking through the intercom: “I’m really thirsty. Can I have a glass of wine please?”
Following his arrest and a four-month prison sentence in September 2024, Bannister received a three-year restraining order prohibiting contact with the 41-year-old singer.
Despite this, he returned to her property on December 10, 2024, just weeks after Tweedy had attended the funeral of her former partner Liam Payne, who died in Buenos Aires in October.
The court previously heard that Bannister “can’t stay away” from the singer, who lives with her eight-year-old son Bear.
During the March court proceedings, prosecutor Datta Ryan stated that Bannister’s July visit had made Tweedy feel “violated and terrified and unsafe in her home”.
In a statement to police read in court, Tweedy said: “I immediately panicked when I saw Daniel.
“I was in a state of alarm and shock. I feared for my safety immediately and I feared for my child’s safety.
“He was due back from the cinema and I didn’t want him to see Daniel.”
Bannister’s solicitor Colin Mackrell told the court his client had “formed in his mind an affectionate view of Ms Tweedy and he believes that was somehow reciprocated”.
The lawyer claimed Bannister returned to the property after his arrest because he wanted to “reassure her”.
A judge subsequently imposed an indefinite restraining order preventing Bannister from contacting Tweedy or entering any building where he knows or believes she might be present.
Bannister has a history of violent crime, having been jailed for 30 months in 2012 for manslaughter. CCTV footage showed him launching a “sustained” attack on 48-year-old Rajendra Patel at a YMCA in Croydon, south-east London, punching and kicking the victim in a fatal assault.
Residents at the Brixton bail hostel where Bannister was living described him as a reclusive figure with wild hair. One neighbour, 35, said: “When the police arrested him he was just smiling. He was paranoid.”
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Another resident, 25, added: “We didn’t have any interaction with the guy. He looked like he was in his own head. You can tell by looking at someone if they’re right or wrong, and he looked wrong.”
Police arrested Bannister at the hostel just one day after he had called officers claiming a neighbour was attempting to break into his home.