An obsessed stalker who has allegedly repeatedly emailed The Crown star Claire Foy about her rape, bombarding her with 1,000 emails in a month, poses a “significant risk” to the actress, a court heard today.
Jason Penrose, 39, sent the actress’ publicist Emma Jackson despicable emails about the star being raped, saying he wanted to be her boyfriend, as well as showing up at her house and ringing the bell “constantly”, the court was told.
Ms. Jackson forwarded the emails to Ms. Foy’s agent, who also received the messages but had the sender’s account blocked.
Penrose, who gave his speech as Highgate Mental Health Centre, was joined today by NHS staff at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in London, where the court has been adjourned while Penrose’s mental health is assessed.
Mrs Foy, 38, who played The Queen in the first two series of the hit Netflix show The Crown, called the police on December 17 last year to report that Penrose, from Paddington, London, had come to her home and was calling laundry.
Foy, who starred in The Crown (pictured), was referenced in emails allegedly sent by Penrose to her agent and publicist that contained explicit content
Penrose reportedly appeared at Mrs Foy’s home on December 17, 2021 – at which point the actress called the police and reported that he was outside her residence, ringing her doorbell constantly
This followed the star’s publicist receiving numerous explicit emails, including 1,000 sent between November and December 2, 2021.
Ms Jackson is said to have received an email from Penrose at 9:30 p.m. on November 2 last year that read: “I’m sorry, I don’t think Claire should talk about personal things in the media and only about creative things.”
The next day at 5:10 p.m., another email came with the text: “If they raped Claire in the a** and bruised her insides of her thighs, she’d get a lot of cheap magazine covers or f***dates from a hundred dollars.” dollars in Europe.’
Emails then became more frequent and Ms. Foy’s publicist forwarded them to her agent.
The agent allegedly told Ms. Jackson that they were also receiving emails from this account, but had blocked it.
Things escalated when Penrose showed up at Mrs Foy’s home on December 17, 2021 – at which point the actress called the police, reporting that he was outside her residence, ringing her doorbell constantly.
Highbury Corner magistrates heard Penrose speak to confirm his name, date of birth and address. I’ve asked and asked a lawyer to bar media from the hearing – this latest request has been denied
The actress was granted a temporary Stalking Protection Order in February, barring Penrose, who is currently in a psychiatric hospital, from having contact with her or her publicist while the investigation continues.
He was prohibited from visiting their homes, workplaces or anywhere he could reasonably expect to be located – and any violation could be prosecuted as a criminal offence.
Penrose is also prohibited from entering the boroughs of Islington or Camden except to attend court, medical appointments or hospital.
The injunction was set to expire on July 4, but has now been extended to the date of the adjourned hearing later in the month.
Penrose could face up to five years in prison if charged and found guilty of violating the warrant.
Court documents from today’s hearing added: “The emails Ms Jackson continued to receive were quite graphic and talked about Foy being raped, challenging herself and wanting her to be his girlfriend.”
The court heard that Penrose “poses a risk related to stalking and to another person, and there is good reason to believe that the proposed injunction is necessary to protect another from such risk.”
Metropolitan Police prosecutor Rosa Bennathan told today’s hearing that the complainants in the case, Clare Foy and her manager Emma Jackson, first became aware of Penrose in August and September 2021.
Penrose contacted Ms. Jackson who claimed to be a film producer seeking Ms. Foy to appear in his film.
She said she didn’t know him and declined the request.
The prosecutor said: “From November 2021, the respondent began sending emails to Ms Jackson about Ms Foy.
“As of December 2, 2021, there were more than 1,000 emails.
“He also contacted Mrs Foy’s sister and later visited Mrs Foy’s address after finding out where it was.
“Obviously a warrant is needed. There have been some violations of the warrant that are currently being investigated by the police.”
Penrose, who was initially not legally represented, appeared before today’s hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court in north London wearing a blue shirt, beige trousers, brown shoes and a dark green hat.
He spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and address at a psychiatric hospital in north London when he asked to be represented by a lawyer.
He also asked for media outlets to be banned from the hearing, but that request was denied.
Attorney Moira Macfarlane told magistrates that the case should be adjourned for at least three weeks so that his mental health needs can be assessed.
She said more had to be known about his condition as his mental health diagnosis was not yet complete, saying, “His mental health is still under discussion.”
The Crown star Claire Foy (pictured) called police after alleged stalker Jason Penrose, 38, who sent emails about her rape, repeatedly rang her doorbell, court heard
She added that since she was appointed like his lawyer and had been given paperwork this morning, she “didn’t have time to do justice this morning.”
The Metropolitan Police said it was only necessary to show that he understood the terms of the preliminary injunction for the case to proceed and asked for it to be resolved this afternoon.
The police plea was rejected by the magistrates and Penrose will then appear in court on July 22, when a decision is expected to be made on the imposition of a full Stalking Protection Order.
Bank president Clive Jenkin told him, “You are still subject to a treatment assignment in a mental health ward.
“If you’re released, we’ll be very concerned about your behavior.
“We don’t want you to harass or stalk these two women named to this court.”
Penrose replied, “I won’t, I promise you.”
Ms Foy, who has won a Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, starred in Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Unsane and played Neil Armstrong’s wife Janet Shearon in the astronaut biopic, First Man.
More recently, she has appeared in My Son and hit TV series A Very British Scandal.
The case continues.