Mother of alleged victim says Katie Price showed lack of concern over daughter’s ordeal
Ex-husband Kieran Hayler stands trial for rape and sexual assault charges
The mother of a teenage girl who was allegedly raped by Katie Price’s then-husband said she felt the former glamour model “didn’t care” about her daughter, a court has heard.
Ms Price’s ex-husband Kieran Hayler is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the 13-year-old girl in West Sussex in 2016.
Giving evidence in court on Thursday, the complainant’s mother said when she told Ms Price about the allegations, “she was quite angry and I didn’t feel she was particularly upset for (the complainant)”.
Of Ms Price’s behaviour afterwards, she added: “I didn’t feel she cared about my daughter.”
The court heard the complainant told her mother a year after the alleged rapes that Hayler had “done everything to her” to which she was “shocked”.
She told jurors she tried to ask her daughter to explain but she said “I can’t tell you anymore” and then she “couldn’t speak”.
Asked if she had questioned her further, she replied: “I didn’t because she was so distressed, I didn’t feel like I could, I just left her to calm.”
The mother told the court she told Ms Price about the allegations because she felt like she “had to”.
She recalled telling Ms Price: “I think he’s done something to (the complainant).”
Asked how Ms Price reacted, she replied: “She was shocked and probably swore.
“I feel she was just angry and feeling revengeful towards Kieran.”
But the complainant’s mother said her daughter did not “want anyone to know” and they had to “respect her wishes”.
In court she admitted she and her daughter had fallen out after she told Ms Price.
Asked if this was because she felt she betrayed her trust, the mother replied: “Yes, she probably didn’t want anyone to ever know and yes it did cause arguments.”
The mother said she noticed changes in her daughter’s behaviour around that time, such as her becoming more “withdrawn”.
“My main concern was her washing, she would shower about four times a day and scrub her skin and it really worried me,” she said.
“I said ‘why are you washing so much’, she said ‘I just feel dirty all the time’.”
The complainant first contacted the NSPCC charity in 2021 over the allegations which referred her to the police, prompting the investigation.
Her mother recalled to the court the day her daughter told her she had reported it to the police, and she said: “I knew straight away what she meant.”
Asked if by that point she knew the details, she said: “She still hadn’t told me exactly what had happened.
“She said it had happened on more than one occasion.
“A few days after she reported it we sat down and talked about it.
“She said it made her feel sick and dirty thinking about it whenever she thought about what had happened at the time she thought it was normal but looking back on it she realised it wasn’t because of her age and then she just felt dirty.”
Hayler denies the charges and suggests his ex-wife had “launched a campaign” against him when their marriage ended, and the allegations form part of this, the court heard.
He was married to media personality Ms Price at the time of the allegations, before the couple’s relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021.
The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.
The trial continues.