Katie Price’s latest bankruptcy court hearing was held in private after the “petrified” model accused people following the case online of recording and taking screenshots of proceedings.
The former glamour model, who was declared bankrupt in November 2019, joined a remote hearing of the specialist insolvency and companies court on Thursday.
But as the hearing was due to begin, the 45-year-old told Judge Paul Greenwood her “anxiety levels have gone up” and that he had been “screenshotted”, with his picture allegedly on a “tattle site”.
She said: “Their name is skanky. They are on here. There are people already on here who shouldn’t be on here.”
They are already saying I'm going to jail on there— Katie Price
“It’s an awful site that gives me anxiety,” Price said, later adding: “I’m scared to be on here because of these people on this site. They are awful about me.
“It’s a site where they just slag everyone off. I’m petrified.”
She later added: “They are already saying I’m going to jail on there.”
Price, who joined the online hearing as “Kate” and did not turn on her camera, accused one individual following proceedings under an apparent alias of “recording everything” and being “here to slag me off”.
The person, who identified herself as a “member of the public”, denied taking screenshots.
Judge Greenwood told those joining the hearing, held on Microsoft Teams, it is contempt of court to screenshot or record proceedings.
I simply cannot know who is in court remotely— Judge Paul Greenwood
He concluded that the hearing – which was due to last 15 minutes and cover the future direction of the case – should be held in private, with only the parties and lawyers able to stay.
“I simply cannot know who is in court remotely,” the judge said, adding he also could not be sure that the “integrity” of the hearing was being “affected by recordings”.
“In all of these circumstances, for the purposes of this particular hearing, in order that it should actually be capable of being conducted, I’m going now to direct that it be heard in private,” the judge said.
Judge Greenwood said the outcome of the hearing will be publicly available.
At a hearing in July, the judge said Price should face questions about her finances, with the court being told a public examination had previously been adjourned.
Barrister Darragh Connell previously said trustees were seeking re-listing of the questioning after Price breached a payment agreement.
Last month, Price said she was “fed up” of being threatened with legal action and would go to prison to be “done with it all”.
Speaking to TV personality Michelle Visage on her Rule Breakers podcast, Price discussed her bankruptcy and said she had recently been to court “more times than I’ve had hot dinners” and would “genuinely” not care if she was jailed.
In March, Price told Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show that people should not be “ashamed” of being declared bankrupt and she had been struggling with her mental health in recent years.
During a hearing in October 2020, Price apologised to the court, saying: “I just haven’t been able to deal with these issues or in the right mental state to understand everything that has been going on.”
She said creditors and officials may think her engagement with them is “too little, too late” but the “progress is real” and she had provided financial information.
