A schizophrenic man has been found guilty of stalking Myleene Klass after sending her an air pistol and calling her a ‘naughty vixen’ during a nine-month campaign of harassment.
Peter Windsor also asked the former popstar, 47, to ‘correct him’ with a whip and cane as well as sending her letters and gifts including fancy dress costumes and jewellery.
The 61-year-old, from Stetchford, Birmingham, tried to argue some of his gifts were a ‘joke’, but was today found guilty of stalking Ms Klass between November 2023 and August 2024, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
He was also found guilty of stalking Ms Klass’s Classic FM colleague Katie Breathwick, 54, after sending her a pair of binoculars, running shoes with spikes, a bottle of champagne and a stamp collection for her son. He sent her between 80 and 100 items over a period spanning March 2020 to December 2023.
The trial also heard Windsor sent a letter signed in blood to former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in which he ‘pledged his soul to satan’.
The items and correspondence addressed to the two Classic FM presenters were intercepted at Global radio’s London office where the pair worked.
The air pistol was stopped by police before it reached Ms Klass, the court heard.
Sobbing in court as she gave evidence, Ms Klass described her ‘sheer terror’ at finding out she had been sent a cache of ‘overtly sexual’ letters and presents over four years including a set of handcuffs with a note saying ‘whip me, beat me priestess Myleene’.
The mother-of-three had to pause several times in the witness box to compose herself as she recounted how a police officer called her while on the school run to tell her about the weapon, which was an air pistol.
Myleene Klass arriving at Birmingham Crown Court to give evidence at the trial of her stalker earlier this month
Peter Windsor, 61, is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court accused of stalking Myleene Klass and her Classic FM co-presenter Katie Breathwick.
Mrs Breathwick, 53, at Birmingham Crown Court last week, supported in court by her husband Robert Thorogood, 54, creator of the BBC series Death In Paradise
‘He said that whilst this gun wasn’t necessary for a licence, at close proximity, right up to six feet it could prove fatal,’ she told jurors. ‘I think anyone receiving a gun would be terrified.
‘I was extremely shocked because suddenly it felt extremely real. I think we spend so much time as women trying to justify why we feel the way we do, have we misinterpreted it? There was no grey area here, there was a gun in a box with my name on it.’
Ms Klass said she had been forced to enhance security at home after being targeted by Windsor.
Letters and parcels sent to Ms Klass and Mrs Breathwick were also shown to the jury.
One of the notes tells how he managed ‘5,000 pull ups in 19 hours’ while another talks about the women’s’ ‘alien’ eyes and how he would like to paddle in a lake outside Buckingham Palace with them.
He also sent the two women a bottle of Champagne each. Wilson sent Mrs Breathwick perfume and a stamp collection for her son. In some he referred to himself as ‘Sir Peter Windsor’.
During her own tearful evidence, Ms Breathwick, 53, told how the dozens of letters and parcels sent by ‘unhinged’ Windsor left her feeling ‘deeply, deeply distressed’ and concerned for her own safety.
Jurors were told of two letters he sent to Ms Sturgeon in October 2020 and October 2022.
The agreed facts, read to the court record by prosecutor Timothy Sapwell, said of the first letter: ‘In it he said that he might visit her to discuss groups of people with whom he appeared to take issue, including Freemasons, politicians and doctors.
‘He also said that he pledged his soul to Satan and that the letter was signed in blood. There was some dried blood on it.’
Windsor, 61, denied stalking Ms Klass for nine months between November 2023 and August 2024
Bottles of Champagne sent to the two women along with handwritten notes from Winsor
One of the letters sent by Peter Wilson to Myleene Klass and Katie Breathwick
Ms Klass, 47, pictured at Birmingham Crown Court last week where Peter Windsor is on trial
Windsor was arrested by Police Scotland officers at his home in January 2023 on suspicion of threatening behaviour as a result of the two letters, but a decision was ultimately taken not to prosecute him because he was not resident in Scotland.
Windsor, who has used multiple names including Peter Szymanski and changed his surname to Windsor by deed poll, appeared in the witness box wearing a light grey sweatshirt and dark grey jogging bottoms.
Answering questions from defence barrister Philip Brunt, Windsor, who has no previous convictions, said he had sent the items to the radio presenters and Ms Sturgeon as a ‘pretend weird’ acting performance.
Insisting that the packages he sent did not amount to stalking, he told the court: ‘Stalkers want things and blackmail whereas ordinary gentlemanly types just give gifts for no particular reason sometimes
‘I haven’t been to London for years. I didn’t take it as the definition of stalking, just sending things.’
Saying he had a ‘pretend obsession’ with Mrs Breathwick and Ms Klass and wanted to get in the newspapers, Windsor added: ‘I thought I would be arrested and let go the same day.’
The court heard Windsor was arrested in September last year at his home in Birmingham when police found a ‘number of items’ including maps of London showing where the women worked as well as a black leather glove, women’s stockings and a pair of binoculars.
A parcel addressed to Ms Breathwick from ‘Sir Peter Windsor’ shown to the jury
Another letter sent to Ms Breathwick in which he mentions Ms Klass also shown to the jury
A note detailing how many pull ups he had managed and the number 20 written over and over
A sketch of Windsor in court
Ms Breathwick was sent a pair of binoculars, a pair of running shoes with spikes, a bottle of champagne and a stamp collection for her son
Jurors have been told Windsor has a ‘history of mental illness and a longstanding diagnosis of schizophrenia’.
Opening the case against him, the prosecutor, said Windsor had ‘became obsessed’ with the two presenters.
He said that they were used to getting fan mail and the occasional gift but this was ‘very different’ and involved a large number of letters and parcels many of which were ‘bizarre’ and ‘demonstrated his obsessive interest’.
Mr Sapwell said there was also a ‘sexual overtone too’ – highlighting Catwoman and police officer outfits sent to Ms Klass.
He said Windsor initially answered no comment then he decided to answer some of the questions that were put to him.
He said he sent the items to Ms Klass as a ‘joke’ after seeing her in ‘provocative underwear’ in a newspaper. He said the gun was a joke too.
Addressing the jury, Mr Sapwell said the normal verdict would be guilty but there was ‘another layer’ to this case.
He said Windsor has a ‘history of mental illness and a longstanding diagnosis of schizophrenia’ which when medicated ‘largely coped with but when it’s not he doesn’t’.
Windsor argued his conduct did not amount to stalking and that the two women were not caused alarm or distress and never asked him to stop.
