A newspaper interview has become an integral part of a court case after it was referenced by a prosecution barrister.

The Croydon Advertiser ran a story last week about former BBC and Sky reporter Tara Stout who is accused of breaching a restraining order banning her from contacting Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.

Stout, (37), called the newspaper from Spain to say she had moved to Marbella because she felt she wouldn’t get a fair trial in the UK.

When she failed to turn up at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Sally Mertens told the judge she’d read about Stout’s departure in the Advertiser.

Miss Mertens said she had spoken to the article’s writer, Ross Lidbetter, and if it were true then Stout would be in breach of her bail by leaving the country.

News editor Jo Wadsworth said: “We are confident she is in Spain.

“The CPS has been in touch but we’ve no indication that we’ll be involved.

“We read the agency court copy (from Wednesday) with interest and have since spoken to Tara to let her know what happened.

“Something we’re quite proud of is that we’ve built up a good relationship with Tara.

“And we’re proud of the fact we managed to scoop the competition on this story. She told us she had no intention of coming back.”

At Wednesday’s hearing a warrant was issued for Stout’s arrest.

This week’s Advertiser, published today, is running another story detailing their chat with Stout in light of the latest court hearing.

In it she reveals that she was stripping in a bar but is now helping wash cars to earn money in Marbella.

Stout was convicted in October 2006 of stalking Mr Jordan and handed a restraining order.

She is accused of breaching that restraining order by sending Mr Jordan text messages and a CD containing photos of herself between January and May 2007. She denies the charges.