Denise Welch has revealed that her former stalker – Toraq Wyngard, 56 – will be freed from jail early amid a time that Prime Minister Keir Starmer has come under fire for his early release scheme.
The move from the new PM saw more than 1,600 inmates being released from prison on Wednesday, September 11, due to Labour’s scheme which is designed to free up space in Britain’s overcrowded jails.
Discussing the events, Welch revealed that her stalker was being released early after only serving three years of his jail sentence – despite also setting fire to her house.
Wyngard, 56, was convicted in September 2021 of stalking and causing serious alarm or distress to the actress between September 18, 2020, and February 11, 2021.
He was jailed for seven years and seven months after stalking Welch and starting the blaze on her property which spread to her garage, causing £4,285 of damage.
Speaking about the ordeal at the time, the Loose Women star said: “It was terrifying but we can’t talk about it for legal reasons.”
A source added to the publication: “Denise and Townley were left really shaken by what happened. They started getting unwanted attention which culminated in a man armed with a knife being outside their property.
“They don’t know the guy and have no idea why he focused on them. But they are determined to stand up for themselves and do whatever they can to ensure it stops.”
Discussing his early release on ITV’s Loose Women, Welch expressed: “I myself have a stalker who is in prison and is being released early. I am not allowed to see any of his mental health reports as regards the progress of his mental health.
“When I asked ‘Will he be tagged?’ they said ‘Well, that depends if his team decides if that’s encroaching on his human rights’. So this is what we’re dealing with in this country and I’m glad we’re talking about it.
“I feel really sorry for anyone who is now living in fear because of these releases,” she said, hitting out at Starmer’s plans to release convicts.
However, it is worth noting that Welch’s stalker’s early release isn’t as part of Starmer’s scheme as stalkers are exempt.
During the trial at Chester Crown Court, Welch was seen via video link from America and candidly said: “It has changed my life. I have a wonderful life and this man has permanently scarred it.”
It also emerged that Welch and her husband Lincoln Townley were spending around £2,000 monthly on extra security measures: “This whole experience terrified me and continues to do so.”
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Townley also connected to the call and added: “My family means everything to me and the thought of not being able to protect them from this experience has left me feeling powerless and angry.”
Thousands were shocked at the scenes that occurred outside prisons as inmates were seen celebrating and popping champagne – with many more being set to be freed over the coming 18 months.
Welch previously revealed that she and Townley had moved house due to Wyngard’s actions, and revealed the big news on her X account.
She revealed the news in an X post targeting an energy company in view of her 554k followers: “For 2 weeks I’ve tried via your system to cancel my service. Every time it says someone will contact me. They haven’t. I don’t want to pay for a service I no longer need as we’ve moved.”
