Crown star Claire ‘was sent 1,000 emails in a month by obsessed fan’
CLAIRE Foy was at ‘significant risk’ from an alleged stalker who sent her over 1,000 emails in a month, a court has heard.
The 38-year-old actress who played the Queen in the first two series of hit Netflix show The Crown was allegedly targeted by Jason Penrose, 39, after he pretended to be a film director.
Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard Penrose emailed Miss Foy’s agent claiming he was a director and wanted her to appear in his film.
The actress refused but Penrose is said to have bombarded her with over 1,000 emails from November 2 to mid-December last year and also contacted Miss Foy’s sister.
According to court papers, the suspect sent her agent and publicist Emma Jackson ‘graphic’ emails and ‘talked about Foy being raped, whoring herself out and wanting her to be his girlfriend’.
Miss Foy, a mother of one, is said to have called police in terror when the alleged stalker turned up at her home on December 17 and repeatedly rang the doorbell. Yesterday Rosa Bennathan, on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, applied for a full stalking protection order against Penrose.
Police can apply for an order to block alleged stalkers from contacting victims while a criminal investigation continues. However the hearing to decide on a stalking order was adjourned until next month after Penrose arrived at court without legal representation.
When his lawyer Moira McFarlane turned up she said: ‘His mental health is still under question.’ The court heard Penrose suffers from delusions and schizoaffective disorder, but should soon be discharged from hospital. Miss McFarlane said more needed to be known about his condition as his diagnosis was incomplete.
Chairman of the bench Clive Jenkin told him: ‘We are very concerned about your behaviour. We do not want you to harass or stalk these two women.’ Penrose replied: ‘I won’t, I promise.’ An interim stalking protection order was extended until July 28. Any breach of it can be prosecuted as a criminal offence.
Miss Foy did not attend the hearing.
‘Wanting her to be his girlfriend’