Danniella Westbrook quits social media after being questioned by armed police and held at airport in Spain
DANNIELLA Westbrook has quit social media after being questioned by armed police at a Spanish airport.
The former EastEnders actress, 49, told her fans she was ‘struggling’ after images emerged of her looking devastated and slumped in the street after she was quizzed for failing to pay a fine.
In 2018 she was convicted of fraud after failing to pay for €37 (£32.90) worth of petrol at a motorway stop, but Danniella never paid the £30 fine.
This resulted in fears that the fine may have soared up to £3,500.
She was arrested by Spanish police and detained for 14 hours in 2018 – and was last week questioned again when she arrived in the country for a holiday.
Today Danniella told her followers: “Taking some time away from my phone, insta and Twitter.
“Sunshine, beach, relaxing by the pool with a book. Sometimes ignore is bliss, love Westie.”
Earlier in the day Danniella explained how tough she was finding things and shared: “I am seriously struggling with the constant trolling and hate I’m receiving. Please don’t send me hate.”
Danniella has had a hard time recently after a series of complications with surgery, splitting with her fiancé and then getting back together and being detained in Spain.
The star recently opened up on the ordeal with the Spanish authorities and told The Mirror: “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’.”
Danniella says she was taken into a holding room where they discussed the outstanding offence with her.
She says she feared she would be locked up – after being held by cops for 14 hours back in 2018.
She explained: “They said they have details for a denuncia, which is like an outstanding offence in Spain which has not been dealt with.
“I said, ‘yes I’m fully aware of what it is and I’ve been trying to get the details from the judge and everything for the last five years’ – or whatever it was.”
She says she had hired a solicitor to look into it but had struggled to get the issue resolved.
Danniella said she was asked to fill out forms – and was told she would have to go to court.
She explained: “He said, ‘Ideally can you go to court on Monday or Tuesday?’ So I said, ‘Yes no problem, I can go to court when I leave here I’m going back to Spain’.
“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.”