Danniella Westbrook quizzed by armed cops in Spain after stealing petrol
Danniella Westbrook has revealed her holiday nightmare as she was confronted by six gun-wielding police officers in Ibiza airport last week – over a previous unresolved offence.
The former EastEnders star, 49, travelled to Ibiza with friends last week in hopes to have a relaxing trip following her recent breast surgery. However, any hopes of a peaceful break were soon dashed as she was confronted by six officers at passport control and taken into a room minutes after arriving.
Danniella is subject to an outstanding police complaint ( known as a 'denuncia' in Spain) over an alleged driving offence – which saw her arrested by national police and detained for 14 hours in a terrifying ordeal in 2018.
She was later convicted of fraud after failing to pay for 37 euros (or £32.90 at the time) worth of petrol she put in a hire car during a motorway stop. The actress' previous legal battle was the last time she had visited a Spanish country until last week, when she travelled to the White Isle. However, the ordeal still hadn't been resolved and she was confronted by police soon after touching down.
Danniella Westbrook reveals her holiday nightmare (BACKGRID)In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Danniella revealed her latest 'scary' brush with the Spanish law – in which she feared she would be thrown in prison again and is now terrified her previous 30 euro fine has sky rocketed to 3,500 euros.
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She said: "I landed in Ibiza and everybody went through passport control and when I put my passport in it [said] 'stop, wait for assistance' so I thought there was something wrong with my passport or whatever – them electronic things are always rubbish. Anyway, the guy has come over and said: 'wait there'. Then the door opened and about six police officers came out and said to me, 'We need to speak to you'."
The actress added: "In Spain they all gave guns anyway, that's a bit daunting – when I see all the guns I think 'oh god'."
She was taken into a room after being confronted by six armed cops at Ibiza aiport (BACKGRID)
The former EastEnders actress feared being thrown back in prison (BACKGRID)When asked how she felt seeing police officers, she said: "Oh I s**t myself. I thought, 'here we go I'm going to go back into jail'. And where it's all the fiestas over there at the moment I thought, 'I'm going to be in here for days, the whole holiday' because it does happen."
Danniella was then taken into a holding room where they discussed the outstanding offence with her, in which she said she was compliant with officers.
"They said they have details for a denuncia, which is like an outstanding offence in Spain which has not been dealt with," the star explained. "I said, 'yes I'm fully aware of what it is and I've bene trying to get the details from the judge and everything for the last five years' – or whatever it was."
The brush with the law 'ruined' Danniella's holiday (BACKGRID)
The actress was told to go to court in mainland Spain, where she was later travelling (BACKGRID)She then explained to officers she had been trying to get the legal matter dealt with and had even hired a solicitor to look into it but had struggled to get the issue resolved. Reflecting on the conversation with police in the airport, she said: "I wasn't as frightened as before, but it's still quite nerve-wracking – especially when you don't speak the language but they [the officers in Ibiza] spoke perfect English so that was helpful, made it a lot easier and a lot less scary."
Dannniella had feared she could face another stint in Spanish prison but she was allowed to go on her way after speaking with officers, with the whole ordeal at the airport taking around an hour. She then filled out forms and was instructed to go to court in mainland Spain to deal with the matter there.
She explained: "They brought me in and I said, 'am I gonna be allowed out?' He said, 'Yeah no problem, you just need to fill all these forms out with your up to date details so the court can contact you properly or you can contact the court' he said, 'Ideally can you go to court on Monday or Tuesday?' So I said, 'Yes no problem, I can go to court when I leave here I'm going back to Spain'.
"I was going to Alicante because I was going to see my cousin from Ibiza. They couldn't deal with it in Ibiza because it wasn't near where it happened. So they basically subpoenaed me up to the court to try and get it sorted out."
She flew to Alicante and visited the court, but was hit by more confusion (BACKGRID)
Danniella was then told the incident was being handled by a court in Mercia (BACKGRID)The actress, who is best known for her Sam Mitchell role in EastEnders, said: "I was absolutely over the moon [when the police officers let me go] I was like, 'really you're not going to put me in a jail cell and they went, 'no, no, no'. I said, 'thank you so much', I could have cried, I said, 'I could kiss you I'm so happy thank you so much'. It's scary. Last time I was in there for days and no one spoke English to me last time."
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The anxiety and worry over the upcoming visit to court in mainland Spain "ruined" Danniella's holiday and she feared being thrown into prison again.
"It ruined my holiday a bit because I was constantly worrying what's going to happen," she said. "I know it's only a 30 euro driving offence it's not like I'm going to prison or anything but I still don't like anything like that hanging over me I don't like any trouble at all.
"All week I felt sick as a pig thinking, 'Oh I've got that on Monday what's it going to be?'," she said before she added: "'Is it going to be a massive fine or what is it'. I didn't know anything until I got to the court."
She now awaits another hearing to resolve the matter (BACKGRID)Danniella then travelled from Ibiza to Alicante, where she visited the court on Monday August 14 but, was once again hit with confusion as she was told she was a the wrong court and needed to go to the region of Mercia instead.
"We went to the court in Alicante and they referred us to the court in Mercia but we can't go back until mid-September to sort it out, which I will do," she said.
The TV star's nerves were apparent to the court staff as she said: "When we went to the court the officer came out to me and spoke to me and he was laughing because he said, 'why are you panicking, it's a 30 euro driving offence' and I said, 'because I don't like being in trouble, I'm scared!'"
Danniella is now armed with the right information on which judge is dealing with the case to help her resolve the issue.
The star fears the fine will have sky-rocketed to 3,000 euros (BACKGRID)However, she will have to wait for another three weeks to have the matter resolved and is now worried the fine could be have sky-rocketed from 37 euros of 3,000 euros due to the interest.
She explained: "I've got to come back in three weeks and make the payment by a payment plan – it's been a few years now so it would've incurred a lot of interest so I think I'll have to pay about 3,000 but I just want to pay it and get it done. That's our estimation over what it could be with the interest and that over the last six years."
Reflecting on the offence, Danniella revealed: ""Basically I was driving up to Benidorm to see a mate of mine but I had all my cards and that stolen so I didn't have much cash on me so the drive from Marbella to there is around seven and a half hours so a full tank of petrol, just before I got to Benidorm I was on the border, I was literally on the red in petrol so I went into the garage and put 30 euro petrol in and I said to the guy, I don't have any money I have my driving licence I said I can come back tomorrow and pay you, so he was going crazy and going 'I'm gonna ring the police' so I just said please this is all I've got and gave him my driving licence and a copy of my passport and he let me go and then I completely forgot about it."
She added: "I didn't go back to the petrol station to pay it I couldn't remember where the petrol station was anyway – it's such a long motorway it's so long. And I never paid it and that's how I got caught up in it."
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