Simon Cowell trespasser remanded in custody
A woman has appeared in court accused of breaking into Simon Cowell's home wielding a broken brick. Leanne Zaloumis, 29, is charged with trespassing on the music supremo's west London property before smashing his bathroom window and hiding in his walk-in wardrobe. She spoke only to confirm her name and address - Brownhill Road, Catford - as she was remanded in custody at West London Magistrates' Court for her case to be heard by a crown court judge. Cowell was watching TV in his bedroom when he heard a 'loud bang' coming from his bathroom, prosecutors claim. Zaloumis was taken to Notting Hill police station after being found in Cowell's mansion, the charge says. The 52-year-old X Factor judge called his staff and was taken back to his bedroom during the incident at around 10.30pm on Saturday night. The charge against Zaloumis, read out in court, said she intended to 'inflict grievous bodily harm upon a person therein and at the time of committing the said burglary had with you a weapon of offence, namely a broken house brick'. The defendant, who appeared in the dock with unkempt hair and a baggy grey sweatshirt, is accused of shouting at Cowell and hurling items at his bathroom window while standing on a roof outside. Police drew their weapons as they arrested her at the property after being called by staff, prosecutor Paul Mitchell said. After she was arrested in a wardrobe of the property, officers found blood marks in the bathroom. Cowell was not among the packed public and press gallery in court. Zaloumis will appear again at Isleworth Crown Court on June 12, District Judge James Henderson said.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.