Katie Price's ex-husband told teenager to 'take it to the grave', rape trial hears

Kieran Hayler, the former husband of television personality Katie Price, allegedly instructed a teenage girl to keep quiet about what had happened between them, telling her she should "take it to the grave", a jury at Lewes Crown Court has been told.

Hayler, 39, is standing trial accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. The charges relate to incidents said to have occurred in West Sussex in 2016. He denies all of the allegations against him.

The complainant, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged offences, gave evidence via a video recording of a police interview that was played to jurors. During the interview, she broke down in tears as she described the difficulty of disclosing what had happened to her mother.

She explained that she had initially told her mother only that Hayler had touched her, stopping short of describing sexual intercourse, because she was afraid her mother would believe she had encouraged the behaviour. "I didn't want her to think I was disgusting," she told officers, adding that for a long period she had blamed herself for what had allegedly taken place.

The court heard that the complainant told police she feared her mother might think "maybe I'd led him on", which was why she held back the full details of her account at the time.

According to the prosecution's case, Hayler contacted the complainant by telephone approximately two to three years after the alleged incidents. During that call, she said, he asked her to promise not to tell anyone about what had happened between them. She recalled him describing their encounters as "special" and warning her that she should "take it to the grave".

The complainant told officers that Hayler also suggested speaking about it could land her in trouble and that the situation might end badly for her. However, she stated that she had not felt frightened of him during the conversation.

When asked by police how she had felt in the aftermath of the three alleged rapes, the complainant described a complicated emotional response. She said she had believed at the time that Hayler genuinely cared for her, and that this made it difficult for her to recognise his conduct as harmful. She recalled that he had framed what was happening as a positive thing, which contributed to her confusion.

She also described significant changes to her daily habits following the alleged offences. The complainant said she would take as many as four showers a day, and that her mother had noticed she was "always washing" and changing her underwear several times each day. These behaviours are consistent with what professionals often describe as coping mechanisms in young people who have experienced sexual trauma.

The complainant told police she remembered thinking about the age difference between herself and Hayler, questioning whether what was happening was something that should be occurring. She recalled crying and wondering whether it ought to have been happening at all.

After the video of the police interview was shown, the alleged victim gave live evidence in person from behind a screen, a measure commonly used in sensitive trials to reduce the distress of facing the defendant while testifying. During this evidence, she was asked whether she remembered anything further about the third alleged incident.

She told the court that Hayler had sent her a message reading, "I love you, goodnight", to which she had replied, "I love you too". This detail formed part of the account she provided to the jury.

The court heard that in 2021, the complainant approached the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which then referred her to the police. That referral triggered the investigation which ultimately led to the charges now before the court.

Hayler was first questioned by police in January 2022. During that interview, he denied that any of the alleged incidents had taken place and denied that anything sexual had occurred between him and the complainant.

At the time of the alleged offences, Hayler was married to Katie Price, a well-known media personality. The couple's relationship broke down in 2018, and their divorce was finalised in 2021. The court heard that Hayler has suggested his former wife "launched a campaign" against him around the time their marriage ended, and that the allegations form part of that campaign. He denies the charges.

The alleged victim is not a member of either Hayler's or Price's extended families, the court was told.

Price is expected to appear as a witness during the trial, which is anticipated to last approximately one week. The case continues before the court.

The trial raises broader questions about how allegations of historical sexual offences involving child complainants are handled within the criminal justice system. Cases of this nature frequently rely heavily on the testimony of the complainant, often supported by evidence gathered during police interviews conducted close to the time of disclosure. Delays of several years between alleged offences and formal complaints are common, and courts have procedures in place to help vulnerable witnesses give their best evidence.

Special measures such as video-recorded interviews and live testimony from behind a screen are designed to reduce the trauma associated with giving evidence, particularly for young or vulnerable complainants. The jury will ultimately weigh the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defence before reaching a verdict on the four charges Hayler faces.