Jury retires in Myleene Klass stalker trial

Peter Windsor denies two counts of stalking causing serious alarm or distress

The jury has retired in the trial of a man accused of stalking broadcaster and former pop star Myleene Klass.

Peter Windsor, 61, is said to have sent a gun, handcuffs and details of a DIY will kit to the ex-Hear'Say singer and her fellow Classic FM presenter Katie Breathwick.

The trial at Birmingham Crown Court previously heard Klass speak of her "sheer terror" at discovering the items after they were sent to the radio station's London studios.

Mr Windsor, of Mary Road in Stechford, Birmingham, denies two counts of stalking causing "serious alarm or distress" to both women between 2020 and 2024.

The proceedings heard how the defendant was arrested but not prosecuted after sending a letter in October 2020 to then Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon which he said had been "signed in blood" and which "pledged his soul to Satan".

Mr Windsor said the letter was "just a joke" and that he had sent gifts to the radio presenters as a "pretend weird" acting performance.

Some of the items posted to Mrs Breathwick had been an attempt to put her mind at rest that he was not a "weirdo criminal" drug addict, Mr Windsor said.

Prosecutors allege the content of letters and parcels sent by Mr Windsor "was obsessional and demonstrated his obsessive interest" in the women, who were left "worried about things like just going to work".

Myleene Klass told the trial she felt "sheer terror" after being sent a gun, a silver ring and a police uniform

In his closing speech to the jury on Monday, defence barrister Philip Brunt said Mr Windsor had been diagnosed for the past 30 years with paranoid schizophrenia and had no previous convictions.

Inviting jurors to consider whether Mr Windsor's behaviour amounted to stalking, Mr Brunt asked: "Is it harassment to be sending out what are deemed to be unwanted gifts? How is it stalking?"

Mr Windsor, who has used multiple names including Peter Szymanski and changed his surname to its current form by deed poll, had not followed anyone and was not told to stop sending letters by anyone, Mr Brunt said.

The defence lawyer added: "Mr Windsor was in his room in his house apart from when he was going to the Post Office to post these things through the Royal Mail with his address all over it.

"He is just sending things through the post to people who have not told him to stop.

"He has provided the means by which they could do that every time - even to the point where there is a phone number on the documents, which was his phone number."