'I called cops after finding stranger sleeping on sofa – now I'm married to him'
A petrified woman who called cops after finding a drunk stranger asleep on her sofa has revealed how his grovelling apology letter charmed her - and now they have a baby together.
Katherine Johnstone had been on a night out and pleaded with her sister to leave the front door unlocked so she could get in. However, things took a bizarre twist when she discovered a man fast asleep on her sofa in 2016 at 8am.
The freaked-out 22-year-old had crept up to the intruder using her phone's flashlight to see who the snoring drunk was. She soon realised he wasn't her sister's friend and the pair quickly left home and called the cops.
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A drunken night for both ended in a happy ending (KennedyNews/KathleenGemmaPhoto)
Michael was arrested at the time - the only time he was ever in trouble with the law in his life (Kennedy News and Media)Officers woke up the hungover man and escorted him out of the house. Katherine, now 29, was asked to check whether the house had been robbed or if there was any damage to the property. After seeing no visible damage, the sisters pressed charges against the man identified as Michael Johnstone.
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Michael was charged with second-degree trespassing, and a mugshot of him was printed in the local newspaper to warn against potential intruders. Michael recalls that night: "I was very scared of what had happened.
"I heard walkie-talkies over me before waking up, and I quickly realised this wasn't a good situation. Being woken by police and being unsure of where you are is never a good sign. I had gone out with my co-workers, and I don't usually drink like I did that night. I'd reached out to one of my co-workers to sleep in his house, which was odd because his house wasn't far from mine.
Katherine Johnstone is now married to Michael who she found asleep on her sofa (KennedyNews/KathleenGemmaPhoto)
The pair tied the knot despite an awkward first meeting (Kennedy News and Media)"What I think happened was I thought I was going to his house, but the reality is I ended up at Katherine's and fell asleep on her sofa.
"This is the only time I have ever been arrested. At the time, I was in a mass paranoid state and didn't want it to affect my job. A lot of people know the story, and we're married with a kid now, so it's now looked at without any negative connotations, but at the time it could have been."
The couple with daughter Mila (Kennedy News and Media)The now 35-year-old confessed to Katherine he thought he was crashing on a work colleagues sofa after a night out. Katherine, who lives near a military academy, initially thought he was a cadet who had drunkenly stumbled into her house after going into a nearby bar.
But after Michael claimed it was an innocent mistake, Katherine agreed to drop the charges following his confession after also realising they had mutual friends. The red-faced Johnstone later returned to the sister's house with a letter and flowers to apologise to the entire family for the stress he had caused.
The couple now have a baby together (Kennedy News and Media)The pair soon became friends and added each other on social media when, following a year of friendship, they started a relationship together. In 2020, he asked Katherine to marry him and they wedded in May 2022. They went on to have baby Mila in February this year.
"After what had happened, I got Katherine's number from a friend as I wanted to talk to her family to tell them it was a big misunderstanding and I didn't mean anything about it", Michael said. I met with her whole family and apologised and gave them a handwritten note and flowers.
Katherine admitted to partying a "little too hard" at the time (Kennedy News and Media)
Michael thought he had staggered home to a friends sofa (Kennedy News and Media)"I think they appreciated the apology. Her dad said it could have happened to anyone. They just wanted to make sure I was sincere about it. This was the first time I met her parents, so it's a pretty wild icebreaker. Our wedding was a great day. A lot of the people that came had been there from the start of our story - it was a full-circle moment.
Katherine, from Highland Falls, New York said: "We laugh and can't believe that this is how we met and now have got married and have a family. People bring it up all the time. It's a beautiful story and silly because it's so unique. I wouldn't change a thing, and I think it makes our love even stronger.
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"My husband is a great man, and I'm very lucky to have him. We're very lucky to have each other."
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