Denise Welch has opened up about her stalker hell, revealing fears that she would be burnt alive after her ordeal.
The Loose Women star, 63, was forced to flee in September, 2020, after Toraq Wyngard started a fire at the Cheshire home she shares with husband Lincoln Townley.
Earlier this month, the 53-year-old admitted to stalking the former Coronation Street actress, and causing serious alarm or distress, and was jailed for more than seven years.
‘We thought he was trying to kill us,’ she said of the blaze. ‘It was just terrifying. It doesn’t bear thinking about.’
Recalling the incident, the ITV star explained that they had enjoyed a family meal at the pub that evening and returned home, where her husband, his son and her brother-in-law had settled down to watch a film as she slept.
She was woken up soon after when she heard Townley’s screams, as a neighbour alerted him to a ‘sprawling flames’ outside.
Welch’s partner jumped into action, moving her car away from the blaze while his son called the emergency services – who arrived promptly on the scene to put the fire out – but the family were shaken up by what happened.
Following the fire, the couple checked CCTV footage, which captured the former model outside their property, before setting a skip alight just yards away.
Welch told the Sun that she and Townley ‘turned into TV detectives’ to get to the bottom of what happened, and scoured through his social media pages – where they found a photo of him beside the actress at the Manchester Charity Run, something they informed the police of.
Officers arrested Wyngard – who was carrying a four-inch knife at the time – shortly after.
‘Lincoln was so shaken by all of this. He’s a lion by nature, a protector and he felt so helpless,’ she continued. ‘It was utterly terrifying and for six months it completely changed the way I lived my life.
‘All I could think was, “Why, why, why, why is he doing this to me and my family? What have I ever done to that man?”’
Welch was left on edge after the fire, and said she has been ‘changed forever’. She stopped sleeping and often had nightmares – with her husband walking her to her car just in case her attacker was lurking outside.
In February, 2021, while Wyngard was released under investigation, he was spotted outside their home once again – with ‘witch’ and ‘pimp’ scrawled outside the property.
He was eventually was sentenced to seven years and seven months behind bars this month, after admitting to stalking the actress and causing serious alarm or distress, as well as pleading guilty to charges of possession of a knife, criminal damage, and arson.
‘My fear, my trauma, became anger at this point. This man tried to destroy my wonderful life. I’m just so grateful he is now behind bars,’ she added. ‘I feel a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and now I just need to try and look forward again and hope that more can be done now for the victims of stalking or the victims of arson.’
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