Anna Friel, an actress, has endured years of harassment from a former pilot who frequently showed up at her home and left unwanted gifts.
A stalker left actress Anna Friel feeling “threatened and shocked” in a three-year campaign of harassment in which he showed up at her home in a dinner jacket and invited her to a ball, a court heard.
The Unforgivable actress, 49, was visited by former British Airways pilot Phil Appleton, 71, who was sexually assaulted. He was “blowing kisses” and “mouthing “I love you” outside of her home, according to surveillance cameras that were capturing him.
According to the court, Appleton also left “unwanted” gifts between January 1st, 2022, and December 11th, 2024.
Due to his history of mental health issues, Judge Alan Blake, who sentencing at Reading Crown Court, told the hearing that he was “fearful of being accused of being a stalker and a weirdo,” and that he had asked his friends for advice on how to draft his messages to Ms Friel.
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The actress, who did not show up in person but whose victim impact statement was read out in court during the sentence hearing, wrote in her letter: “As a woman in the acting industry where there have been many cases of stalking, it still shocked me when it happened.” I feel very threatened and as though I have to look over my shoulder constantly in this situation.
Appleton and her daughter, who Appleton also lived at the time, met her for the first time while going for a walk in Windsor, Berks. According to prosecutor Jay Patel, she persisted that they must have interacted with him in the past because of how well-known he spoke to her. From April 2022, she began receiving regular messages from Mr. Appleton, according to Mr. Patel, after giving him her email address.
He told his friends that he was going to marry Ms Friel in those emails, and he claimed to love her and misses her. She made the decision to not respond in the hope that he would stop.
However, Appleton’s obsession with her continued to grow in the emails that Ms Friel received. According to the court, he claimed to want to marry her, calling her the “perfect wife,” and emailed her details of a wedding he purportedly planned.
Vers the end of 2023, Appleton invited her to a ball with him and she showed up at Ms. Friel’s home address. He showed up at Ms. Friel’s home once more in December 2024, posting the message “Je t’aime” in a message on Instagram.
She was at home with her daughter that evening when she noticed a person peering through the lounge window. “Her daughter opened the door to find Mr. Appleton, who she had assumed to be a neighbor.”
He asked her if her mother was there, but she replied that she wasn’t, and he gave her an empty pack of cigarettes, which he claimed was for Ms Friel.
The defendant, who currently resides in Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, with his elderly mother, was detained on December 11 and taken to a mental health facility the following day.
He was released on February 3rd, 2025, and was placed in care until August when he admitted a stalking offense under Section 2A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. He was then placed there for six months before being granted conditional bail.
He received a 15-year community order and a community order of 24 months. His client’s defense attorney, James Bloomer KC, stated to the court that he “wants nothing more than to live a law-abiding life” and that he “wants to return to his behavior.”
In the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, Ms. Friel rose to fame as Beth Jordache. In the ABC comedy series Pushing Daisies, she starred as Charlotte “Charles” as Charles in the international success of 2007.
She played the title role in the ITV and Netflix mystery drama Marcella, winning the international actress award in 2017.
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. You can call the national stalking helpline on 0808 802 0300 or find more information here.
Source: Mirror
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