An obsessed stalker bombarded a musician with thousands of abusive messages and accused him of sexually assaulting her after they slept together once, a court heard.
Reanne Phillips, 32, branded Franck Kouassi a rapist and a paedophile in an ‘attempt to destroy his music career’, jurors heard.
She breached orders preventing her from contacting him, turned up at his house and set up hundreds fake Instagram accounts to contact him including ones using pictures of his mother, it is claimed.
Mr Kouassi only met Phillips twice but she wrongly claimed he has fathered her child.
Prosecutor Michael Peters told the Old Bailey: ‘It was a sustained attempt to destroy his music career.’
In a stream of messages Phillips said Mr Kouassi was a ‘dirty stinking African’ a ‘cheater’ and a ‘fraud’.
Franck Kouassi only met Phillips twice but she wrongly claimed he has fathered her child
Mr Kouassi told the court he met Phillips in the street when he was on his way to a radio interview and he chatted her up because he was ‘cheeky.’
They exchanged contact details on Snapchat and he suggested they went out for a drink in November 2018.
On the date they drove around Shoreditch before Phillips suggested going back to his home where they had sex.
Mr Kouassi said they had ‘normal conversations’ on social media afterwards but Phillips then became ‘demanding and aggressive.’
‘Sometimes she would send a lot of messages which I just had to ignore,’ he told the court.
‘Sometimes I was getting maybe 50 messages a day.’
Mr Kouassi blocked Phillips but she then attacked him on Instagram.
‘I noticed a a few accounts on Instagram calling me a rapist and a paedophile,’ he said.
He called Phillips but she told him a friend was responsible.
Mr Kouassi (pictured) told the court he met Phillips in the street when he was on his way to a radio interview and he chatted her up because he was ‘cheeky.’
That Christmas Mr Kouassi returned to his native Ivory Coast to see his family and opened Instagram to find ten fake accounts had been created.
‘Someone had used a picture of my mum and created a fake profile,’ he said.
‘All my friends and associates were also receiving abuse.’
Mr Kouassi said he spent the Christmas holiday blocking the fake accounts.
‘Social media is my bread and butter as a musician,’ he told the jury.
He first went to the police when Phillips started sending him voicemail messages.
One stated: ‘I know where your mother is…it’s now going to become a problem for you…better get ready.’
‘I barely knew her,’ Mr Kouassi said.
‘I just didn’t know why she was going to these extremes.
‘I had done nothing to this individual. I had never disrespected her. I was clearly dealing with someone who was obsessed.’
Mr Kouassi said he has 4,000 abusive messages on his phone and Phillips set up at least 900 fake accounts to attack him.
She was given a harassment warning on February 12 but the following day she went to the police claiming the musician had strangled her.
Mr Kouassi was arrested but no further action was taken.
Phillips continued to harass him and on November 5, 2019 he want to the police again.
Mr Peters said: ‘She send him a picture with a baby in a cot and said: “My baby daddy is a liar.”
In fact Peters has never had a child, the court heard.
On January 30 she allegedly sent him a message on Instagram describing him as ‘a rapist’ and a ‘dirty stinking African.’
In another sinister messages he stated: ‘You will not get away with this. You’re going to get your head licked (hit) off.
‘There was also a threat against Mr Kouassi’s mother,’ said Mr Peters.
In July 2020 Phillips claimed the musician had sexually assaulted her on the night they had sex 18 months before.
‘The prosecution say this allegation was false and made to cause Mr Kouassi serious alarm and distress,’ Mr Peters told the jury.
Phillips, of District Road, Wembley, denies stalking the musician between 1 December 2019 and 4 July 2020.
The trial continues.
