A household man lived a secret double life stalking Fern Britton by following her 200 miles to her Cornish vacation dwelling and spying on her by means of a skylight.
Fixated fan James Haviland, 63, stalked the previous This Morning presenter for 2 years and despatched her ‘undesirable flowers’ and playing cards that left the TV star fearing what his ‘finish recreation’ was.
Haviland had first despatched a bunch of crimson roses – named ‘Love Letter’ – in 2021 with an unnerving card which stated ‘I believe you might be wonderful’, with an additional notice inside saying: ‘You’re stunning, preserve protected, preserve smiling. PS I’m certain you get this factor on a regular basis.’
In June 2023 he once more despatched flowers and a card which stated ‘Properly Carried out on Your Operating’ adopted a month later with much more flowers, this time with a birthday card which learn: ‘Blissful Birthday, Blissful Birthday, hope you’ve an ideal day’ and signed ‘Jim’ with a kiss.
The daddy is married to a psychiatric nurse and can be a eager photographer who was working in the direction of a royal pictures society accreditation.
On Tuesday, the complete particulars of Miss Britton’s ordeal by the hands of Haviland resulted in a decide banning him from your complete county for a decade.
Fixated fan James Haviland, 63, stalked former This Morning presenter Fern Britton for 2 years
Haviland had first despatched a bunch of crimson roses – named ‘Love Letter’ – in 2021 with an unnerving card which stated ‘I believe you might be wonderful’
Miss Britton (pictured right here showing on ITV’s Lorraine in 2019) she was left fearing what his ‘finish recreation’ was
In September 2023 he pushed boundaries additional by renting the vacation dwelling, which gave him a ‘private view of [her] backyard’.
When popping over to see if he was having fun with his keep, it then dawned on the much-loved presenter that ‘she recognised his face’, presumably from seeing him lurking within the space beforehand.
The stalker effused ‘about rebooking however subsequent time, bringing his cycle and taking good footage’ however Miss Britton knew one thing was incorrect, earlier than realising this was the identical man beneath whose title the floral deluge had been despatched to her.
The police have been known as however when officers entered the property, they discovered the obsessive had fled, however a stool sitting beneath a skylight within the loft appeared to point out he was there to gap up and spy on his goal’s home subsequent door.
At Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court docket, prosecutors described how Haviland’s marketing campaign of stalking started in November 2021 by sending Miss Britton the ‘undesirable’ ‘Love Letter’ flowers and playing cards however escalated throughout two years, main the TV star to worry what his ‘finish recreation’ was.
Miss Britton can be a profitable writer
The total particulars of Miss Britton’s ordeal by the hands of Haviland resulted in a decide banning him from your complete county for a decade (Haviland pictured arriving at Basingstoke magistrates’ court docket)
He later made an order for a bunch of Get Properly Quickly flowers costing £57 in June 2022 however he didn’t full the order.
However in June 2023 he once more despatched flowers and a card which stated ‘Properly Carried out on Your Operating’ adopted a month later with much more flowers, this time with a birthday card which learn: ‘Blissful Birthday, Blissful Birthday, hope you’ve an ideal day’ and signed ‘Jim’ with a kiss.
By this time, Miss Britton had discovered the title of her disturbed admirer from the florist in query.
However she couldn’t have recognized that he had already been making the four-hour drive from his Hampshire dwelling, to remain as close to as attainable to the Large Brother star’s picturesque Cornwall dwelling.
When police burst into the house in September 2023, disturbingly, they found he had been sleeping within the loft room, quite than the main bedroom, and had positioned a stool beneath an opened skylight which missed the TV star’s dwelling.
On his telephone it was later found that he had taken a screenshot of a tweet that Miss Britton had made, and had obtained ‘a photograph of Ms Britton with somebody, however the another person was reduce or cropped out of the {photograph},’.
In a sufferer influence assertion learn to the court docket, Miss Britton stated with attribute bravery: ‘It is worrying, I would love him to cease earlier than he does extra.
‘There’s a level once I know that is inappropriate and I am asking myself what’s his finish recreation right here.
‘Final evening for instance I did not sleep effectively, I’ve been worrying about it and I am contemplating my private security.’
Britton stated she moved to Cornwall to ‘get away from this kind of stage of recognition and intrusion’ and as a substitute needed to dwell by herself ‘writing and having fun with life’.
‘I don’t need to be hyper-vigilant once more – I’m not a celebration one who goes out to showbiz occasions,’ she continued.
Miss Britton appeared on this 12 months’s Celeb Large Brother the place she completed in fifth place
Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield made a much-loved duo on This Morning
Miss Britton pictured sitting alongside Schofield whereas on This Morning set in 2007
‘I’m entitled to dwell a life that’s nice, pleasing, and freed from fear.’
Representing the stalker, Ed Stott advised the court docket that Haviland ‘understands the way it seems to be’ and the way he understands that it seems ‘very sinister’.
The court docket heard Haviland labored till 2017 earlier than he retired and located himself ‘within the neighborhood’ of her tackle in November 2021 and crossed paths with Britton there – which he claimed was a ‘coincidence’.
‘Then, shortly after that, he has a celeb crush – he acted on that in he describes as an escapist kind of means and sends her flowers shortly afterwards’ Mr Stott stated.
He added: ‘He desires these issues over and carried out with and has carried out every little thing he can to expedite issues.’
Mr Stott stated that Haviland had positioned a stool by the Velux window as a result of he needed to open it and denied that he had been following Ms Britton.
He stated Haviland claimed he had first seen Miss Britton in November 2021 whereas taking pictures in north Cornwall for his portfolio which he had been engaged on since he retired in 2017.
He continued: ‘He’s embarrassed by his behaviour and he’s devastated with the impact it has had on his household.’
However after pleading responsible to stalking, District Decide Stephen Apted advised Haviland: ‘You had turn into obsessed together with your sufferer and it is clear from her sufferer private assertion that your behaviour has precipitated her misery and anxiousness’.
He added: ‘That marketing campaign took the type of sending undesirable flowers and playing cards to Miss Britton’s dwelling tackle, discovering out the place she lived, staying in the identical village, making bookings for stays in her vacation cottage.
‘You’ve got clearly been in a position to determine her vacation dwelling and when you have been in it you selected to make use of one of many rooms that missed Miss Britton’s non-public dwelling.’
In addition to a ten-year restraining order, the defendant was handed a 12-month neighborhood order and ordered to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work and pay a £114 sufferer surcharge and £85 court docket prices.
Haviland, from Chineham, Basingstoke, had earlier pleaded responsible to stalking with out inflicting worry, alarm or misery, between November 20 2021, and September 16 2023.
The Celeb Large Brother star solely moved to Cornwall from Buckinghamshire in 2020 after she cut up together with her TV chef husband, Phil Vickery
The presenter – who has additionally penned a collection of extremely profitable books – stated the transfer had helped her heal after 20 years of marriage, and her mother and father passing away.
