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A STALKER with “erotomania” bombarded Channel 4 actress Anna Friel with sexual messages and unwanted gifts for three years.
Phil Appleton, who is 71, chillingly turned up at the 49-year-old star’s house multiple times.
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Reading Crown Court heard he left “unwanted” presents for her between January 2022 and December 2024.
The pensioner from Windsor in Berkshire is described online as an actor and retired pilot.
He has been in custody for six months and spent time in a mental health facility.
Appleton was due to stand trial, with special measures put in place to mitigate Friel’s “fear and distress” while giving evidence.
However, this was called off after he performed a U-turn and admitted to stalking the Channel 4 star.
Yesterday, Reading Crown Court heard Appleton has been diagnosed with a condition called erotomania, along with bipolar.
Erotomania is characterised by a person’s delusions of another person being in love with them, and usually affects women rather than men.
It usually fixates on someone of a higher social status or a celebrity, but can extend to someone who is fictional or has died.
A psychiatrist told the court Appleton would need to be monitored by mental health professionals and he was unable to say if his fixation would ever end, The Guardian reported.
Judge Alan Blake asked probation services to prepare a report on Appleton, and said he had a “lack of full understanding and acknowledgement 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.”
Appleton was granted bail on the condition he not contact the actress or enter the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
The judge declined to allow him to stay at an address in France, instead ordering him to remain at a family member’s home in Suffolk.
The pensioner is due to be sentenced on September 18.
Friel rose to fame with her role as Beth Jordache in Channel 4 soap opera Brookside – making history for sharing the first-ever, pre-watershed lesbian kiss.
She went on to star as Charlotte “Chuck” Charles in the ABC comedy series Pushing Daisies.
In 2017, she won the International Emmy for Best Actress for her leading role in the ITV and Netflix series Marcella.
What is erotomania?
Erotomania, also known as de Clérambault’s syndrome, is when you think someone is in love with you but they’re not.
The subject of the person’s delusion is often a celebrity or someone of a higher social status.
It’s a rare psychiatric condition, and can even focus on a fictional character or someone who has died.
They may believe that the person is communicating with them and affirming their love using secret messages.
It tends to affect women more than men, and can occur alongside other mental health conditions.
Behaviour includes persistent efforts to make contact through stalking, written communication, and other harassing behaviours.
It can sometimes be triggered by the targeted person making it known that the attention is not wanted.
