Katie Price has avoided jail after breaching a restraining order against her ex-husband Kieran Hayler’s fiancee Michelle Penticost.
The 44-year-old former glamour model has been handed an 18-month community order to carry out 170 hours of unpaid work.
Price showed no emotion as the verdict was announced but gave a brief smile as she left the dock.
She pleaded guilty last month to breaching a restraining order and appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Friday morning for sentencing.
The reality TV star and mother-of-five was accused of breaching a restraining order by sending an abusive text to Ms Penticost.
She had been banned from contacting Ms Penticost directly or indirectly, under the terms of a five-year restraining order imposed at Horsham Magistrates’ Court on 3 June 2019.
The prosecution had alleged that Price sent a message to Mr Hayler, describing his fiancee as a “gutter s***” and “c*****g w****”.
The text was apparently sent after Price became aware of an Instagram post put up by Ms Penticost about how she had been treated badly by other people and how to deal with it.
Ms Penticost said the post was not related to Price, according to the prosecution.
Breaching a protection order – such as a restraining order – carries a maximum prison term of five years.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Penticost said the impact of the restraining order breach by Price had a “devastating effect” on her mental wellbeing.
She said: “The impact of what Katie has done is very upsetting, I feel threatened and intimidated.”
Nicholas Hamblin, representing Price, said his client had pleaded guilty to the breach but she had been under a “misunderstanding” that the restraining order “worked both ways”.
He said there was an element of “provocation” and she had been “over-reacting as she felt she was being criticised”.
Last month, before the end of proceedings, the judge warned the TV personality and businesswoman that she was “in very grave danger of going to prison,” adding: “I really hope I don’t see you here again.”
Judge Stephen Mooney told Price today: “In my judgement, this offence was committed out of anger.
“The words you used were highly offensive and inflammatory so the breach cannot be considered minor.
“In my judgement, balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the appropriate sentence is a medium-level community order.”
