Pop star Harry Styles
locked himself in his bedroom at night and felt unsafe in his own home
after being stalked by a homeless man he took pity on, he told a court
this morning.
The One Direction
star offered to pay for a hotel for 26-year-old Pablo Tarazaga-Orero
and bought him a bag of food after seeing him sleeping rough at a bus
stop outside his north London home.
But Mr Styles claims he was then stalked by Tarazaga-Orero, who
posted notes and cash through his letterbox, allegedly followed him to
the local pub, and is accused of trying to grab him during a late-night
jog.
Giving evidence at Hendon magistrates court, the singer and actor
said he resorted to using a panic lock on his bedroom door after
receiving the notes from Tarazaga-Orero, he beefed up his security, and
now checks for “weak spots” in his home.
“I felt unsafe at home”, he said. “I always felt safe at my house
and despite the environment from any work engagements, I would always
manage to have an intact sense of normality at home up until this
point.“
The Brit Award-winning singer, 25, giving evidence from behind a
screen, said he first took pity on Tarazaga-Orero when he saw him
camping at a bus stop in the heavy rain in March this year.
“I thought it was sad someone so young was sleeping rough, that
anyone was sleeping rough at a bus stop, when it was cold”, he said. “I
felt sorry for him.
“I pulled up in my car next to the bus stop and offered him some
money so he could get a hotel or some food, but he told me he couldn’t
accept money for religious reasons.”
Mr Styles said he asked Tarazaga-Orero if he needed food and the
homeless man asked for edamame, so the singer drove off in search of a
vegan shop, eventually telling passing police officers of the young
man’s plight.
Mr Styles said the next day he bought Tarazaga-Orero two
sandwiches, two salads, and two muffins from a vegan café, but when he
handed over the bag of food Tarazaga-Orero asked if they could go to a
restaurant.
“There was something not quite straight-forward about the
situation”, said the singer, who was then advised by his security team
to steer clear of Tarazaga-Orero.
The court heard Tarazaga-Orero is accused of repeatedly following
Mr Styles to his local pub before sitting and staring at him, posting
£49.95 through his letterbox, and sending two notes asking for cash.
“He made me feel pretty uneasy, I felt watched and I could feel
him watching me as I entered and exited my residence”, he told the
court.
Mr Styles added that he had initially believed Tarazaga-Orero was
“down on his luck” but when he started appearing at the pub he believed
he might be “following me around.”
Describing the jogging incident, Mr Styles said he was running
down the road when Tarazaga-Orero saw him and “lunged” to try and grab
hold of him.
The singer said he was “pretty scared” when he turned to run home
and saw Tarazaga-Orero again, telling him: “I tried to give you the
money. Now you have to stop, please move.”
Tarazaga-Orero denies trying to grab hold of the singer in the incident.
Asked if he regretted trying to help Tarazaga-Orero, the pop star
said he had regularly given food and money to homeless people and would
do it again in the future.
“I would like him to get some help but I would also prefer to
have no contact with him going forward”, he added. “I would like to feel
safe at home.”
Tarazaga-Orero, a Spanish national of no fixed address, denies stalking the star between April and June this year.
“Is all about this view of celebrities that we’re impenetrable and almost not human. But fundamentally we all have the same problems. Heartbreak feels the same, loss feels the same, all these feelings are the same for all of us.”
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Back in the day, you were like, the favourite person to throw out fake stories about, like love stuff, like that you were hooking up or like dating somebody that wasn’t true and they loved keeping it going, is that true?
