A 71-year-old stalker “fixated” with Anna Friel has been ordered by a judge not to contact the actor and keep away from the area where she lives.
Phil Appleton sent Friel messages, turned up at her home and left her unwanted gifts over a period of almost three years.
Appleton, from Berkshire, was due to stand trial and Friel had been called to give evidence, with the prosecution requesting that “special measures” be put in place to help the actor manage “fear and distress”.
Special measures can include giving evidence from behind a screen, using a video link to make the experience less daunting and allowing a witness to give better evidence. However, the trial was called off earlier this week after Appleton pleaded guilty to stalking.
Reading crown court heard on Thursday that a psychiatrist had diagnosed Appleton with bipolar disorder and erotomania, which is characterised by an individual’s delusions of another person being in love with them.
The psychiatrist said Appleton would need to be monitored closely by mental health professionals and that he had not been able to say whether his fixation would end, the court was told.
James Bloomer KC, for Appleton, said he had complied with previous bail conditions including not to contact Friel and was prepared to accept a lifelong restraining order.
Bloomer said his client had spent more than five months in Bullingdon prison, Oxfordshire, and in Prospect Park psychiatric hospital in Berkshire. The barrister said Appleton had learned from being detained and was “absolutely determined” to do rehabilitative work.
Judge Alan Blake asked probation services to prepare a report on Appleton, saying he had a “lack of full understanding and acknowledgment of the impact of his behaviour on the victim”.
He said: “It is more likely [that] consistent treatment will help him to contain his feeling and reduce the risk of stalking. 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.”
The judge agreed to bail Appleton, but declined to allow him to stay at an address in France, instead ordering him to remain at a family member’s address in Suffolk.
Appleton was ordered not to contact Friel and one of family members and has been excluded from the area where Friel lives, which will be enforced by an electronic monitoring tag.
Appleton admitted one count of stalking without fear, alarm or distress between 1 January 2022 and 11 December last year. He is due to be sentenced on 18 September.
A website under his name appears to suggest Appleton has worked as an actor and pilot.
Friel, 49, rose to fame as Beth Jordache in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. She has been praised for her performance in the drama Unforgivable, which was released on the BBC last month.
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In the UK, the National Stalking Helpline is on 0808 802 0300 or email via their inquiry form. In the US, resources are available at stalkingawareness.org
