A stalker who had a ‘fixation’ with the actress Anna Friel has been ordered not to contact the star or her daughter as part of his bail conditions ahead of his sentencing next month.
Phil Appleton, 71, admitted stalking the actress, who first shot to fame by being part of the first on-screen lesbian kiss on Channel 4‘s Brookside, for almost three years.
He had pursued a course of conduct ‘which had a substantial adverse effect on her usual day-to-day activities’, including sending unwanted emails, attending her home address and leaving gifts.
A previous hearing heard that Friel was concerned she might see the defendant at a ‘health club’ they both attended.
Reading Crown Court heard on Thursday that a psychiatrist had diagnosed Appleton with bipolar affective disorder and also believes he has a further diagnosis of ‘erotomania’ – a paranoid condition that is characterised by an individual’s delusions of another person being infatuated with them.
‘Mr Appleton will require close monitoring by mental health professionals’, Judge Alan Blake said the psychiatrist had concluded, adding ‘he has not confirmed that Mr Appleton’s fixation with the complainant in this case will necessarily resolve.’
Friel currently stars in BBC drama Unforgivable, a harrowing story about a family who deal with the devastating aftermath of an act of sexual abuse committed by a member of their own family.
On the first day of what would have been Appleton’s trial on Monday last week, the court heard Friel was unable to attend because of commitments she had in relation to the production.
Jai Patel, prosecuting, also said Friel and her daughter had asked for permission to attend the trial and give evidence by video link because of ‘genuine fear and distress’.
Appleton, of Windsor in Berkshire, pleaded guilty to stalking without serious alarm or distress earlier this week.
He was due to be sentenced on Thursday, but judge Alan Blake adjourned the hearing until September 18 for a pre-sentence report to be carried out, pointing out that the psychiatrist was ‘not entirely sure if his feeling towards the complainant will subside’.
The defendant, who the court heard has been in custody for six months and has spent time in a mental health facility, was granted conditional bail.
At today’s hearing, James Bloomer KC, defending Appleton, said: ‘We are dealing with a man aged 71 years who had a 25-year period of stability.
‘He reaches 70 or thereabouts without a single interaction with the criminal justice system, despite his bipolar disorder.’
‘Not to underestimate what has been pleaded guilty to here’, Mr Bloomer added, ‘this is a man whose level of need for the public to be protected from him is easy to overplay.’
Mr Bloomer said the defendant had been on bail conditions, including not to contact Friel, in 2023 for a number of months without breaching them and would accept a lifelong restraining order.
The lawyer said Appleton was ‘absolutely determined’ to do rehabilitative work and said he had learned from being in prison for the first time.
‘He tells me that teaches him if nothing else does’, Mr Bloomer said.
He added he had felt Appleton had a ‘lack of full understanding and acknowledgement of the impact of his behaviour on the victim.’
‘It is more likely consistent treatment will help him to contain his feeling and reduce the risk of stalking’, Judge Blake said.
‘It is plain that on a number of occasions, Mr Appleton has indicated that he does not think he is unwell or needs to take his medication and has desisted in so doing.’
Judge Blake agreed to bail Appleton, but declined to allow to him to stay at an address in France, instead ordering him to stay at his mother’s address in Haverhill, Suffolk.
Appleton was ordered not to contact Friel or her daughter Gracie Friel and must not enter the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which will be enforced by an electronic monitoring tag.
The case was adjourned for Appleton, of Springfield Road, Windsor, to be sentenced for one count of stalking without fear, alarm or distress between January 1, 2022, to December 11 last year at the same court on September 18.
