Denise Welch 'terrified' as Salford stalker who started fire on her driveway to be released from prison

Denise Welch has spoken of her fear that a man convicted of arson at her home is due to be released from prison.

Toraq Wyngard, then 64, of Salford, was jailed for arson and stalking charges in 2022. But the Loose Women star says she has learnt he is soon to be freed, the Mirror reports.

"The stalker who set fire to my property, who came to my house with knives who could have killed me or a member of my family or the brave woman who came to help is getting out of prison soon, and I am f***ing terrified," she told the Daily Mail.

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It's still unclear why Wyngard, who also goes by the name of Todd Wyngard, targeted Denise and her family. She described how her ordeal began on one evening in September 2020.

A neighbour knocked on Denise's door to alert her to the fact that a skip on her driveway at her Wilmslow home was on fire. It was very close to her car, and Denise's husband Lincoln rushed out to move the vehicle before the fire could spread to its petrol tank.

Later, examining CCTV footage revealed a man running away from the skip towards a nearby churchyard. Police managed to trace the man, who could be seen wearing a distinctive baseball cap in the CCTV footage, and detained Wyngard.

Denise said: "He was told he couldn't come near our home for a month while the police investigated. But after a month we heard and only because I demanded to know the CPS wouldn't be bringing charges."

Some months later, Wyngard was again seen on CCTV scrawling offensive graffiti on Denise's front gate. But when she attended her local police station and presented officers with the evidence, they told her their hands were tied, because it required three incidents to trigger an inquiry into stalking.

It was only later, after Denise and her family managed to connect the two chilling incidents with a note marked with satanic imagery that had put through her door, that police were able to launch an inquiry.

In April 2022 Wyngard pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court to stalking, arson, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage. He was ordered to spend seven years and seven months in prison.

At that point his parole eligibility date was listed as October 2025, but Denise says she has since learned that he has been considered for early release. Her legal action to oppose his release was rejected, and Denise has been told that the authorities will notify her of which week Wyngard will be released, but not the actual day.

Denise says that she's lucky enough to have a second home, and to be able to afford CCTV and private security guards but that many women in similar positions don't have those resources.

Even so, Denise says, the impact of the whole ordeal has been "devastating," both for her and for her husband. "It isn't over for us," she said. "In December he will be free. But what about us?"

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.