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UK TV star Danniella Westbrook hauled to Spanish court for unpaid petrol bill
The former Eastenders actress drove off from an Almeria filling station owing 37 euros for fuel back in 2018
Troubled British actress Danniella Westbrook has been subpoenaed by the Spanish courts after being hauled in for questioning by armed airport officers when she landed in Ibiza this week. Her passport was flagged when she landed on the Spanish island over an unpaid petrol bill dating back to 2018.
The formed Eastenders star, 49, told the UK press: “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’."
She explained: “They said they have details for a denuncia, which is like an outstanding offence in Spain which has not been dealt with.”
She said she has been trying to resolve the issue for five years without success and now fears the courts could fine her up to 3,500 euros.
“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.”
The original crime occurred five years ago just off the A-92 motorway near Velez Rubio in Almeria. Petrol station owner Serafino Reche told the courts that the soap star filled up her rental Hyundai with petrol before emptying her handbag on the counter and claiming she had no cash.
“She left a foreign driving licence and said she’d pay later but I never heard from her again,” he said.
The actress was arrested when she was about to board a flight from Malaga Airport and jailed for 14 hours. A judge later convicted her of fraud and ordered her to repay the filling station owner. He also threatened Danniella with a prison sentence if she failed to pay up.
Image: TaurusEmerald via Wikimedia Commons
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