Kieran Hayler has told jurors he thought his ex-wife Katie Price was “coaching” a 13-year-old girl he is accused of raping, after discovering messages she sent to the alleged victim.
Hayler, 39, took pictures of messages on Ms Price’s phone when they were together in which she talks to the girl about Hayler fancying her, adding: “I will make you a little star.”
Hayler is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault on the teenager in West Sussex in 2016.
Giving evidence on Thursday, the former stripper denied the allegations and said: “I believe they’ve been fabricated.”
He told the trial that “trust had gone on both sides” of his marriage with Ms Price by mid-2013, and he admitted affairs with three other women during their relationship.
He told jurors “I am attracted to older women” and that all his significant relationships had been with older women.
Hayler said Ms Price was also unfaithful during their relationship.
He found messages she sent to the complainant in 2017 when he was looking for evidence of her having an affair with someone else, the court heard.
He told jurors Ms Price had been accusing him of being attracted to 15 to 20 other people, adding: “I thought she would be using she thought I fancied other people to warrant having this affair.”
Asked by his defence barrister Arlette Piercy why he took pictures of the messages between Ms Price and the complainant, he replied: “Because she made out that I fancied (the complainant).
“I thought, ‘This is a bit weird’.”
Katie Price arriving at Lewes Crown Court (Gareth Fuller/PA)
PA Wire
He said he accessed her phone the same way she had accessed his, by using his fingerprint.
Asked about what this showed, he said: “The relationship is breaking down.”
The court previously heard that Ms Price messaged the teenager saying she had heard that Hayler and the girl had kissed and he had “tried it on” with her, adding later: “I will make you a little star.”
Asked in cross-examination by Ms Piercy about her use of the phrase “little star”, Ms Price said: “That’s a figure of speech.”
On Thursday, Hayler said: “Everyone can interpret it how they want, it’s very pushy. It’s a very strange comment to make.
“I thought she was coaching her into (saying) something she shouldn’t.
“I didn’t send them anywhere, I took a picture on my phone.”
He told the court he found the picture of the messages “recently” after taking his phones out of storage when moving home.
He then sent them to his solicitor.
Kieran Hayler (Gareth Fuller/PA)
PA Wire
Also on Thursday, Hayler pleaded not guilty to four alternative counts of sexual activity with a child after the close of the prosecution case.
The four lesser charges were added to the indictment so the jury could consider them as alternatives to the three rape counts and one of sexual assault.
Judge Mark van der Zwart told the jury the “really important difference” between the charges was that the alternative counts have no reference to the “absence of consent”.
The judge said: “It remains a matter entirely for you to decide if prosecution have made you sure any sexual activity took place between the complainant and the defendant Mr Hayler.
“No suggestion whatsoever from myself you should find any particular verdict of the facts.
“The position of the parties remains unchanged.”
He said the prosecution alleges the complainant was raped, while the defendant will maintain nothing sexual happened between them.
If convicted, the offence of rape carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment while sexual assault is up to 10 years.
Sexual activity with a child has a maximum sentence of 14 years.
Hayler denies all the charges and suggested his ex-wife had “launched a campaign” against him when their marriage ended and the allegations form part of this, the court has heard.
He was married to Ms Price at the time of the allegations, before the couple’s relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021.
The complainant first contacted the NSPCC in 2021 over the allegations, and the charity referred her to the police.
The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.
Hayler will continue giving evidence in the trial on Friday.