Stalker made me feel 'threatened' says actress

Actress Anna Friel has told a court she was left feeling "threatened and shocked" by a man who stalked her for nearly three years.

Phil Appleton, 71, was handed a restraining order of 15 years and a community order of 24 months at Reading Crown Court on Thursday.

He sent Ms Friel, known for her roles in Channel 4 soap Brookside and ITV and Netflix drama series Marcella, numerous messages and visited her home address on several occasions.

The 49-year-old actress, did not appear in court but her victim impact statement read out at sentencing said: "As a woman in the acting industry where there have been a lot of cases of stalking, it still shocked me when it happened to me."

She added: "This case had made me feel very threatened and as though I have to look over my shoulder all the time."

Appleton first met Ms Friel while she was on a walk with her daughter in Windsor, Berkshire, where Appleton also lived at the time, and Ms Friel believed from the familiar way he spoke to her they must have worked together in the past, prosecutor Jay Patel told the court.

She gave him her email address and began receiving regular messages from Mr Appleton from April 2022, Mr Patel said.

"In those emails, he said that he loved Ms Friel and missed her, he invited her to lunch and dinner at his home, he was telling his friends that he was going to marry Ms Friel," Mr Patel added.

"She decided not to respond in the hope that he would stop."

But Ms Friel received more emails from Appleton in which his obsession for her seemed to escalate - saying he wanted to marry her, referring to her as the "perfect wife" and sending her details of a wedding he was apparently planning, the court heard.

Appleton first attended Ms Friel's home address towards the end of 2023 dressed in a dinner jacket and inviting her to come to a ball with him.

In December 2024, he sent Ms Friel a message on Instagram saying "Je t'aime" ("I love you") before turning up at her home once more.

"That evening, she was at home with her daughter when she saw someone looking through the lounge window," Mr Patel said.

"Her daughter thought it was a neighbour and opened the door only to find Mr Appleton.

"He asked if her mum was here, she said she was not, and he handed her an empty pack of cigarettes which he said was for Ms Friel."

Ms Friel later checked her CCTV cameras and found Mr Appleton had been standing outside her home for several minutes before he was seen.

"He had been looking at the CCTV camera and was making facial expressions as though he was communicating with someone," Mr Patel told the judge.

"He mouths the words 'I love you' to the camera and holds up a ring."

Appleton returned to the house shortly afterwards on 10 December 2024, when he once again left an empty packet of cigarettes and a wooden ring for Ms Friel and was captured on CCTV "making gestures, blowing kisses, and behaving as though he was having a conversation", Mr Patel said.

The defendant, whom the court heard now lives with his elderly mother in Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, was arrested on 11 December 2024 and admitted to a mental health hospital the following day.

He was discharged on 3 February this year and remanded in custody where he remained for six months until he was granted conditional bail in August, when he pleaded guilty to a stalking offence under Section 2A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

His defence lawyer, James Bloomer KC, told the court his client felt "unreserved apology and shame about his behaviour", adding: "He wishes nothing more than to return to the law-abiding life he has lived all these years."

As part of the restraining order, Appleton must not approach, follow, or contact Ms Friel or her daughter, directly or indirectly, and must stay away from the area surrounding Ms Friel's home in Windsor.

His compliance to the community order requirements will also be monitored electronically for the next 12 months, the judge said.