Princess Anne's chef hunted

9 months ago 05th Feb 14:00

Britain's Princess Anne's chef is an alcoholic who beat a former partner, it has been claimed.

Steffan Sjolander was found guilty of threatening to cut off a woman's nipples with a pair of tongs two weeks ago, and is currently s currently on the run and thought to be in Sweden.

His girlfriend said a few words when she found him drunk in the kitchen cooking a meal and he threatened her with a knife

A former friend of Sjolander has accused royal protection officers of failing to protect the princess by hiring the 49-year-old chef without checking his criminal record.

Karol Kotwica, 49, told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "I was staggered he got the job. Don't they vet people like that? I don't think he should have been working for Princess Anne at her home. They obviously never checked him properly.

"If I was a royal protection officer I wouldn't want Stefan anywhere near Gatcombe Park. He's a very big, strong man and can be very aggressive when he's drunk. I'm just amazed that he got through the system."

Karol revealed that Sjolander already had a criminal record before he was employed with the princess: "He was arrested and put in a police cell in December 2004 after a row with his girlfriend. She came home from work and found he had been drinking all day. His girlfriend said a few words when she found him drunk in the kitchen cooking a meal and he threatened her with a knife."

Sjolander worked at Anne's Gatcombe Park estate, for two years before the incident - which occurred in October last year, when he approached Amy Tyrell, a female groom, in the estate's stables brandishing a pair of tongs.