DJ Andy Kershaw jailed over restraining order

DJ Andy Kershaw jailed over restraining order

By Nigel Bunyan
Last Updated: 7:12pm GMT 15/01/2008

Andy Kershaw, the BBC radio presenter, has begun a three-month prison sentence after being warned that his life was turning into a "Greek tragedy".

Kershaw, 48, was jailed on the Isle of Man for breaking a restraining order taken out by his ex-girlfriend after he pestered both her and the new man in her life. As he passed sentence, the High Bailiff said Kershaw seemed "hell-bent" on destroying himself.

The Radio 3 presenter admitted being "menacing and provocative" when approaching Juliette Banner, the mother of his two children, and Jim Imrie, a Glasgow-based prison officer.

Passing sentence, High Sheriff Michael Moyle told Kershaw that previous warnings about his behaviour appeared to have fallen on "deaf ears".

He went on: "You seem hell bent on destroying yourself and you do not seem to appreciate that the author of your destruction is yourself.

"I genuinely regret that you, by your actions, have brought this state of affairs to pass. I regret that I feel I have no obligation other than to impose custody."

The High Sheriff added: "You are going to drive a wedge between yourself and your children if you carry on in this way".

Kershaw, who is fighting a dependency on alcohol, replied: "On the contrary, sir, my children have spent the last two weekends with me. They have voted with their feet".

He then blew a kiss to his new girlfriend, Catherine Turner, 42, before being led away to begin his sentence at the island's only prison.

Kershaw, who lives on the seafront at Peel, escaped with a three-month suspended prison term the last time he appeared at the Courts of Justice in Douglas last October.

On that occasion he pleaded guilty to harassing Miss Banner by banging drunkenly on her front door and shouting at both her and Mr Imrie. However, by the time he was sentenced he had already spent six nights in prison.

His latest breach came on November 2 when he approached the couple as they went for coffee at Peel Breakwater. He glared at them before circling them and walking "in front of them backwards", the court was told.

Kershaw also admitted sending his children text messages that referred to their mother and her boyfriend in an "abusing" manner.

He further admitted being drunk and disorderly outside Peel police station on November 7. He called one officer "an idiot".

The High Bailiff ordered him to complete the earlier three-month sentence but said it would run concurrently.

He also ordered that the restraining order against him should remain in place. This bans him from going within 50 yards of the couple's new home on the island.

Nigel Cordwell, defending, had earlier told the court that Kershaw was "devastated" to find himself "in this humiliating situation". He would accept "stoically" any decision to imprison him.

Mr Cordwell said the dispute between his client and Miss Banner centred on the issue of access to their children. However, progress was now being made in this area.

Kershaw's latest fall from grace comes three months after he spoke exclusively to the Daily Telegraph of his "nightmarish" problems.

He admitted that his long-term relationship with Miss Banner had been blighted by a number of sexual infidelities.

His ex-girlfriend learned of these as the couple unloaded their belongings following their move from Crouch End, north London, in April 2006.

"She found a text from someone I'd had a one-night stand with 12 months earlier," he said. "It meant nothing, and I was still desperately in love with Juliette, but for her it was the last straw."

The couple went briefly to Relate, the relationship counselling service, but 15 months ago Miss Banner moved out, taking the children with her. Kershaw's isolation was compounded when she forged a relationship with Mr Imrie and set up home with him.