Yahoo News Katie Price Escapes Jail As She's Sentenced For Breach Of Restraining Order
Katie Price seen arriving at court on Friday with boyfriend Carl Woods (Photo: MEGA via Getty Images)
Katie Price has escaped jail after being sentenced for breaching a restraining order by sending abusive messages to her ex-husband about his fiancée.
The TV personality was handed an 18-month community order to carry out 170 hours of unpaid work after appearing at Lewes Crown Court for sentencing on Friday.
She had previously been warned she was “at risk of going to prison” by a judge after admitting sending her ex Kieran Hayler a text message branding fiancée Michelle Penticost a “c***ing whore”, “gutter slag” and “piece of shit”.
She was banned from contacting Michelle directly or indirectly in 2019, under the terms of a five-year restraining order.
Katie had previously been fined £415 for hurling a foul-mouthed “tirade of abuse” at Michelle during a row in a school playground.
During Friday’s sentencing, Judge Stephen Mooney told Katie: “In my judgement, this offence was committed out of anger.
“The words you used were highly offensive and inflammatory so the breach cannot be considered minor.
“In my judgement, balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the appropriate sentence is a medium-level community order.”
She was also ordered to pay £1,500 court costs.
Kieran Hayler and Michelle Pentecost (Photo: John Phillips via Getty Images)
The court heard that her message to Kieran Hayler may have been triggered by an Instagram post by Michelle Penticost, which she denies was aimed at Katie.
Katie’s message read: “Tell your c***ing whore, piece of shit, girlfriend not to start on me.
“She has a restraining order so shouldn’t try antagonise me as she is in breach and I’m sure she doesn’t want people knowing that she was having an affair with you behind my back. That gutter slag.”
The court heard the offence was committed due to Katie’s use of the words “tell your”, which was an indirect attempt to communicate with Michelle.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Michelle said the breach had a “devastating effect” on her mental wellbeing.
She said: “The impact of what Katie has done is very upsetting, I feel threatened and intimidated.
“I feel demoralised and not wanting to go out. The language used made me feel scared. I felt it was an attack on me.
“The consequences are I feel she will attack me. I felt by having a restraining order it would make me feel safe but by someone breaching it it has made me feel very vulnerable.”
Katie showed no emotion as the verdict was announced but gave a brief smile as she left the dock, PA Media reported.
She was accompanied by boyfriend Carl Woods as she appeared in court.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.
