Ferdinand Stalker Detained in Warrington

A woman who was convicted of harassing Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been detained in Warrington.

Susanne Ibru, 38, walked out of court on after being told she could not cross-examine the defender's wife, Rebecca.

She was convicted of harassment in her absence at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court on Monday.

District Judge Nicholas Sanders issued a warrant so Ibru, of Newcastle, could be brought back and sentenced.

The 32-year-old Manchester United and England star had earlier been giving evidence against Susanne Ibru, 38, at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court, who was accused of harassment.

Ibru allegedly turned up at the footballer's home in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, three times between February and June last year, the court heard.

She had denied the visits amounted to harassment and was representing herself in the case.

She went missing from court in the afternoon after cross-examining Ferdinand - and was found guilty in her absence.

An arrest warrant was issued by the judge so she can be tracked down and sentenced.

During her cross-examination, Ibru asked Ferdinand if her four or five visits to him amounted to harassment, to which he said: "Yes."

As he left the witness box, she told him: "I'll see you soon, bye."

She had claimed they first met at the home of one of his relatives in 1998, which he said he did not recall.

Ian Davies, prosecuting, told the court first incident happened in the early hours of February 21.

Ferdinand and his wife were asleep in bed when she woke him after hearing the buzzer of the intercom at the entrance gate to their home.

The footballer told District Judge Nicholas Sanders that he went to the bathroom window to see who was at the gates and saw a figure wearing a hooded top in the darkness.

He said he shouted down to see who it was and the figure looked up and he was able to see it was Ibru, and police were called.

Asked by Mr Davies how he felt, Ferdinand said: "At first I was angry and upset but then disturbed, really, because I have got a young family and this was not the time or the place to be coming to speak to me."

The second time, he was returning home when he saw her standing on the road opposite his house.

Police warned her off for a second time, but she turned up again two days later in the early hours of June 18.

The prosecution's case was that the pair were unknown to each other, although Ferdinand's mother was briefly introduced to Ibru after a church function in 2003.

Ibru, formerly of Peckham, south London, but now of Queens Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, managed to obtain Mrs Ferdinand's mother's number and would phone her under some pretext, eventually asking after her son.