A woman faces prison after being found guilty of breaching a restraining order that prevented her from contacting Rio Ferdinand.
Susan Okoya, 44, received the ten-year order in May 2011, at the same time as being jailed for ten weeks for stalking the then-Manchester United defender.
But Camberwell Green Magistrates Court heard today that she had since hired Rio’s personal trainer and sent him texts referring to the 39-year-old star.
And in a statement read to the court, Rio revealed that the whole episode had left him living in fear.
He said: “I have no relation to Susan whatsoever. All I know is that we were both brought up in Peckham.
“I find it disturbing, as I do not want anything to do with this female and I just want to get on with my life and not have to look day-to-day over my shoulder in case she is there.”
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The court heard that Okoya had contacted former rugby professional Mel Deane, and shortly afterwards he’d texted her to ask if she was ready for her next training session.
The woman replied with the message: “I think you are going to have to ask Rio to pay for the sessions.”
She later added: “LOL he will pay it because he wants me looking good for him.”
Lyndon Orrett, defending Okoya, asked Deane if he’d thought she was being jokey with him.
The trainer replied: “I thought she was being jokey, yes. Because I didn’t know of the background with Rio.”
District judge Karen Hammond said: “In my view, ‘tell Rio’ is a specific request to Mel Deane, who is a third party, to communicate with Rio Ferdinand, who is the object of a restraining order.
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“It’s an instruction to a third party to communicate with the object of a retraining order, which is Rio Ferdinand, and it’s a breach on that basis.”
Okoya – who did not attend today’s hearing – will be sentenced at a later date.