A convicted killer who repeatedly stalked Cheryl Tweedy has been moved from prison to a psychiatric hospital.
Daniel Bannister, 51, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after spending five months behind bars.
Health service bosses and the Ministry of Justice made the decision ahead of his release date this year.
The transfer means Bannister is now considered a patient rather than a prisoner, and has access to round-the-clock care from nurses and psychologists.
The move is predicted to cost the taxpayer up to £300,000 per year – compared to the £60,000 cost of a prison place.
Bannister was jailed for a year last September for turning up to Cheryl’s house – which she shares with her nine-year-old son Bear – for a fourth time, leaving her ‘terrified’.
His appearance at the star’s home was a breach of a restraining order already placed on him.
Just months later he was released, with photographs showing him walking through the streets, chatting to people waiting at a bus stop and casually smoking a vape.
Convicted killer Daniel Bannister (pictured), who repeatedly stalked Cheryl Tweedy, has been moved from prison to a psychiatric hospital
Cheryl Tweedy was left ‘terrified’ after Bannister turned up at her home four times
In January, he was put back behind bars after breaking the rules of his halfway house, where he is alleged to have kept alcohol in his south London bail hostel room.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed at the time that Bannister was issued with a recall warrant on January 13 for breaching his licence conditions.
His sentence was set to expire in June this year, meaning he could no longer be held in custody.
But he has been moved to a psychiatric hospital, where he will be under the care of the NHS, The Sun first reported.
Bannister, who was previously convicted for manslaughter, began his campaign of harassment against Cheryl in January 2024.
It then continued after Cheryl’s former partner, One Direction star Liam Payne, died aged 31 after falling from a balcony in Argentine capital Buenos Aires in October 2024.
The former X Factor judge, 43, told the court in a victim impact statement how she felt ‘on edge every time I open my gate’.
She said she was ‘stunned’ when Bannister visited her home for a fourth time, and that she has been forced to hire personal security.
‘Each time he returns the worry of his intentions intensifies,’ she said.
‘I’m worried, nervous and on edge every time I open my gate. No person should have to feel this way.
‘Daniel has made my young child scared,’ she added.
Bannister, a musician, turned up to Cheryl’s house four times, leaving her ‘terrified’
The singer dated Liam Payne for two years, with the pair welcoming their son Bear in March 2017. Liam passed away in Argentina aged 31 in October 2024 (pictured together in February 2018)
Judge Alan Blake previously told Bannister: ‘She does not wish any contact with you and you are causing her anxiety.
‘You have shown defiance to the court order.
‘You need to draw a line under that behaviour.’
The stalker showed up at the singer’s rural home for the fourth time on June 19, arriving in a taxi just before 10pm, and rang the intercom system twice before peering over the gate, the court heard.
Bannister believed the singer had invited him to her home over Microsoft Teams, the court was told.
The court heard Bannister is a musician, and trained to a very high level as a figure skater as a child.
The stalker was jailed in 2012 for two-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of Rajendra Patel, 48, who he assaulted at a south London YMCA homeless shelter.
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