Lauryn Goodman breaks silence after losing court battle with ...

30 July 2024, 22:36 | Updated: 30 July 2024, 23:37

Lauryn Goodman has broken her silence in the wake of losing a court battle with England star Kyle Walker.

Kyle Walker’s ex-lover used the England star like an “open-ended chequebook” after giving birth to his child, a court has heard.

Instagram influencer Lauryn Goodman was on Tuesday accused by a judge of exploiting the Premier League star’s betrayal of his wife, Annie Kilner.

In a brutal written judgement, Judge Edward Hess said Lauryn didn’t have a “good track record of telling the truth” and was “often difficult, unreasonable and demanding” as he ruled out the majority of the financial demands the influencer made of the footy star.

Ms Goodman knew Mr Walker was desperate to keep the birth of their daughter Kinara Storm, one, a secret and used it as “leverage” for financial gain, the judge said.

In a scathing 30-page document, the court heard Ms Goodman was an "unreliable" witness and slammed her for tailoring evidence to suit her case against Mr Walker.

The document outlined the many spending sprees the influencer went on using Mr Walker’s money and accused her of spending money "like it was going out of fashion".

These spending sprees included £70,000 for a Mercedes GLE, a £30,000 car allowance for a nanny and a £22,000 furniture budget.

Ms Goodman also requested £14,750 a month in child maintenance and £3,900 each month in childcare costs.

Mr Walker also splashed out on a £31,200 astroturf pitch after Ms Goodman claimed Kinara could one day become a lioness.

Now, Ms Goodman has broken her silence.

In a statement to the Mirror, she said: "These have been difficult and stressful proceedings, which I had hoped would not be necessary. This has only ever been about the children and providing for their futures. I am a dedicated single mother and whilst my children will never have what their half siblings have, I have tried my best for my children and always will, no matter what.

“Thanks to my legal team and the judge’s decision, my children’s childhood is secure and I will now focus on building a solid future for them so as to provide for the time when the children’s home reverts back to their father. More than anything, I look forward to enjoying every moment with my children and the three of us being able get on with our lives."

The decision to lift reporting restrictions by Judge Edward Hess is a rare move for family courts.

Explaining the decision, he said: "It would be a nonsense, opening the court to ridicule, to try to redact or anonymise this judgment to prevent identification of the parties.

"Further, a perusal of the many hundreds of newspaper articles published about these matters clearly illustrates that the mother has not just co-operated with, but actively instigated, press coverage placing in the public domain her own children, the circumstances of their conceptions and what she thinks about the father.”

Judge Hess praised Kyle Walker’s "grace, generosity and kindness" in his ruling, but had far harsher words for Lauryn Goodman.

The judge said: "Throughout 2023, he sought to keep secret the fact that he was Kinara's father.

"It is clear from the evidence that he was understandably embarrassed about this fact and anxious about how his wife would react when she found out.

"In his attempts to persuade the mother to go along with the retention of secrecy, the father gave way to many of the financial demands of the mother which he might otherwise have resisted.

"The evidence before me has amply demonstrated that the mother was able to leverage these substantial increases by hinting that she would go public on the paternity issue.

"She also threatened that if she did not get what she wanted she would select a home a stone’s throw away from his in Cheshire...an idea which she knew horrified the father.”

He added: "In my view the father’s presentation before me was sensible, honest and reliable.

"Plainly, he was embarrassed and remorseful as to the difficult situation in which he has placed a number of people, including all of his children, and regretted his decision-making in trying to keep his paternity of Kinara a secret.

"But he has in my view acted with dignity and generosity (and, once the secret was out, honesty) in facing up to the financial and personal consequences of what happened.

"In contrast, my assessment of the mother is that she was not reliable.

"She often said what she thought would help her case rather than what was true, failed to make a calm and measured assessment of what she needed and often exaggerated her need to spend money."

In a statement released after the judge's ruling, Kyle Walker slammed the influencer for treating him like an “open-ended cheque book.”

A spokeswoman for Kyle Walker said: "This judgment speaks for itself in laying bare Lauryn Goodman's insatiable greed and relentless pursuit of money.

"The judge made it clear: she used Kyle as an open-ended chequebook and repeatedly threatened him in order to get what she wanted.

"She then orchestrated a media campaign to feed intolerable and wrongful intrusion into the private lives of Kyle, Annie and their young family.

"Throughout each court proceeding the judge stated that Kyle adopted a fair and generous stance. These proceedings were never necessary. Kyle's offer should have been accepted months ago and would therefore have eliminated the need for added stress to all involved.

"In light of this judgement and the truths it makes public, my client and his family now ask that the media fully respects their rights to a private life as they navigate their next steps."

Meanwhile, Ms Goodman said: "I am a dedicated single mother and whilst my children will never have what their half siblings have, I have tried my best for my children and always will, no matter what.

"Thanks to my legal team and the judge's decision, my children's childhood is secure and I will now focus on building a solid future for them so as to provide for the time when the children's home reverts back to their father.

"More than anything, I look forward to enjoying every moment with my children and the three of us being able get on with our lives."

During the case, Mr Walker agreed that he "did not want to acknowledge publicly" the paternity of the child but accepted the truth would come out eventually.

He said: "My wife at home did not know and I have two children with Lauryn, four children with Annie, and I wanted to protect them as best as possible."

He added: "(Ms Goodman) did not have a gun to my head but she did have a detonator and for me, it was about keeping the peace because I did not want my wife finding out."