Cheryl was seen for the first time this weekend since her stalker ordeal and Liam Payne’s funeral – as she enjoyed dinner out in London with her mum Joan and a friend.
Last week the stalker who turned up at her house as she grieved for ex partner Liam was unmasked for the first time.
Convicted killer Daniel Bannister, 50, was jailed for 16 weeks on March 14 for breaching a restraining order he was handed in September.
He was said to have become ‘fixated’ with the Girls Aloud star, 41, who was left ‘fearing for her life’ by his obsessive behaviour.
Bannister, who served a two-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter after kicking and punching a neighbour to death in 2012, repeatedly tried to contact Cheryl.
But she was putting her difficult year behind her as she stepped out for a dinner with her nearest and dearest on Friday.
She was seen leaving Le Petit Chef in London, an immersive dining experience – the first public sighting since the stalking hell and the heartbreaking funeral of her ex-boyfriend Liam in November 2024.
Cheryl was seen for the first time this weekend since her stalker ordeal and Liam Payne’s funeral – as she enjoyed dinner out in London with her mum and a friend
She was seen leaving Le Petit Chef in London, an immersive dining experience – the first public sighting since the stalking hell and the heartbreaking funeral of her ex-boyfriend Liam in November 2024
The One Direction star died on 16 October after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires. They share son Bear, seven.
As she stepped out she looked stylish in a long blue wool coat, jeans and snakeskin boots.
Bannister was already the subject of a restraining order when he rang the video intercom outside the Buckinghamshire mansion she shares with Bear.
The ‘frightening’ incident took place in December while she was grieving the loss of her former partner Liam.
Cheryl, who was not at High Wycombe Magistrate’s Court on March 14, did not provide any victim impact statement to be read out at her stalker’s sentencing.
But in an earlier statement provided to the Crown Prosecution Service she said his repeated attempts to contact her left her feeling ‘violated’ and in fear of her life. She also said she feared for the safety of her son.
The court was told Bannister turned up at her home on three occasions in January, July and December of last year.
Cheryl told police she ‘immediately panicked’ when she spotted Bannister outside her home.
‘I knew this was Daniel because I have had previous incidents where Daniel has come to my property,’ she told police at the time.
As she stepped out with her friend and mum she looked stylish in a long blue wool coat, jeans and snakeskin boots
She was putting her difficult year behind her as she stepped out for a dinner with her nearest and dearest
Last week the stalker who turned up at her house as she grieved for ex partner Liam was unmasked for the first time
Convicted killer Daniel Bannister, 50, was jailed for 16 weeks on March 14 for breaching a restraining order he was handed in September
He was said to have become ‘fixated’ with the Girls Aloud star, 41, who was left ‘fearing for her life’ by his obsessive behaviour
‘I was concerned he was looking for a way into the property.’
The singer told officers her son was due back from the cinema, and did not want him to see the stalker, the court heard.
‘I want to protect my child from any harm.’
Having spent almost three months on remand, Bannister is likely to be released within weeks.
District judge Arvind Sharma told Bannister he had to impose an immediate custodial sentence and said a new indefinite restraining order meant he could never contact Tweedy.
He was banned from entering any building where he suspects Cheryl to be present and could not contact her on social media.
Bannister, who wore a prison issue grey tracksuit, smiled in the dock when the court was told he had asked Cheryl for a glass of wine when he called at her home.
Prosecutor Datta Ryan said Cheryl had recognised Bannister as he stood outside her home in December having pressed the entry intercom.
She said she feared he was going to scale the gate and called her personal security.
Bannister did not manage to get into the grounds of the mansion in Buckinghamshire.
In her statement to the CPS Cheryl said:’ I feared for my safety and my child’s safety.
‘It causes me to panic. He is not allowed to be at my home.’
Bannister, of no fixed abode, had been jailed for four months last September and given a three-year restraining order and banned from entering the county of Buckinghamshire for stalking Cheryl.
But on December 10th – weeks after grief-stricken Cheryl attended Payne’s funeral – he showed up at the home she shares with her seven-year-old son Bear.
He admitted to three offences – two of harassment and a breach of restraining order – and was remanded in custody at an earlier hearing.
Bannister was due to be sentenced in January, but the case was adjourned by the judge for medical reports.
His solicitor Colin Mackerell told the court a psychiatrist said he was not suffering from any mental illness.
Bannister has been in custody for over three months at Bullingdon prison in Oxfordshire.
In 2012 he had been jailed for manslaughter for killing his neighbour Rajendra Patel at a YMCA hostel in Croydon where they both lived.
The court heard both men suffered from mental health problems, with Mr Patel diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
The pair had a history of conflict after moving into adjacent rooms at the hostel for the homeless and vulnerable.
Bannister brutally punched and kicked Patel as he was walking towards a lift, breaking his ankle and nose and causing swelling to his face.
Patel died 15 days later after the assault from a pulmonary thromboembolism.
Jailing him, Judge Nicholas Price told Bannister he had not intended to cause serious injury or death but the assault was sustained.
He said he was not a danger to the public, but had no choice but impose a prison sentence.
Kathleen O’Callaghan of 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.
‘As a result, Bannister now faces a longer prison term with an indefinite restraining order placed on him.’
Prosecutor Datta Ryan had said Cheryl felt ‘violated’ by his repeated attempts to contact her.
She stepped up her personal security in March 2023 while appearing on the West End stage.
Her nightly appearance in 2.22 Ghost Story was ruined by ‘disgusting’ notes being left with flowers at the London theatre.
Bannister, who served a two-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter after kicking and punching a neighbour to death in 2012, repeatedly tried to contact Cheryl
Cheryl, who was not at High Wycombe Magistrate’s Court on March 14, did not provide any victim impact statement to be read out at her stalker’s sentencing
The court was told Bannister (seen) turned up at her home on three occasions in January, July and December of last year
She had led mourners at former One Direction star Payne’s funeral in November in Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Cheryl is seen with Liam in 2018
She had led mourners at former One Direction star Payne’s funeral in November in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
He died after plunging from a balcony at his hotel in Buenos Aries, Argentina following a drink and drug binge.
Cheryl, who was in a high-profile relationship with Payne between 2016 and 2018, said in a statement on Instagram that their son has to ‘face the reality of never seeing his father again’.
Sharing a black and white picture of Payne in bed with his son, she said: ‘As I try to navigate this earth shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being.
‘Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our seven-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.’
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