'Stalker', 39, accused of bombarding Sophie Ellis-Bextor with hundreds of gifts and social media messages fails to show up to court for FOURTH time
- Nishil Patel, 39, is accused of bombarding Sophie Ellis-Bextor with gifts
- Ellis-Bextor, 42, is a mother-of-three and married to musician Richard Jones
- Court heard Patel failed to appear on four occasions as a search was launched
An alleged stalker accused of sending hundreds of unwanted gifts to pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor today failed to appear in court for the fourth time.
Nishil Patel, 39, is accused of bombarding the mother-of-three, who is married to musician Richard Jones, with messages on social media.
The star is applying for a stalking protection order, but Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that he is 'making himself deliberately unavailable'.
The court heard Patel, who lives in Chiswick, west London, will be searched for by police and then a decision will be made whether to bring him before the courts. No further hearing date was set.
District Judge Karim Ezzat did not issue any orders today.
Nishil Patel, 39, is accused of bombarding Sophie Ellis-Bextor (pictured), who is married to musician Richard Jones, with messages on social media
The star is applying for a stalking protection order, but Westminster Magistrates' Court (pictured) heard that he is 'making himself deliberately unavailable'
He said: 'The police are going to look for him and presumably arrest him.
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'Their ability to detain him for any period of time is limited because either they have to make a decision to charge and bring him before the court or they have to readmit him to bail in any event.
'Once he's in the police's charge, you can simply notify him of any date and I'm sure we can list it even if it's for a five-minute hearing so he's then before the court.'
Ellis-Bextor, a 42-year-old pop singer, is notable for her Kitchen Disco series (pictured) during the pandemic
She was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing and has had 10 Top 40 singles, including her breakout hit Murder on the Dancefloor. Pictured, Ellis Bextor with her husband Richard Jones
Last week, after the third occasion Patel failed to appear, Judge Ezzat said: 'I cannot be satisfied he knew of the last date — and he certainly was unaware of this date.'
Ellis-Bextor, a 42-year-old pop singer, is notable for her Kitchen Disco series during the pandemic. She was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing and has had 10 Top 40 singles, including her breakout hit Murder on the Dancefloor.
In 2010, she wrote the song Dial My Number about a stalker that kept texting her.
She sang: 'Yeah, you can dream about it. But don't believe it's real at all.'
