Fern Britton stalker drove 200 miles to stay in her holiday cottage
- James Haviland sent the TV star flowers and cards and turned up in her village
Fern Britton’s stalker drove 200 miles to stay in her holiday cottage in the village where she lived in a bizarre episode which the TV presenter described as ‘disturbing and scary’.
James Haviland, 63, from Basingstoke tracked down the star as part of a terrifying campaign against her.
Last week he admitted to magistrates in Cornwall that he had been stalking her for two years.
His crusade against the author and TV star began when he started sending her cards and flowers.
He then travelled more than 200 miles to the village of Padstow where the former This Morning presenter has gone on holiday as a child.
Fern Britton, 66, has revealed that a stalker drove 200 miles to stay in her holiday cottage in her village
Briton has most recently appeared on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year but when not in front of the cameras often retreats to her Cornish cottage
Britton moved to the Cornish village of Padstow after the separation from her TV chef husband Phil Vickery (pictured)
The picturesque village of Padstow, Cornwall where Haviland stayed a week in Briton’s holiday cottage
As part of his terrifying behavior, he even rented out the holiday cottage which the star owns.
Haviland stayed in the quaint home in the picturesque village near Padstow, Cornwall for a week in September and tried to book again in November before he was reported to the police according to The Sun.
The mum-of-four, 66, had moved out of the Buckinghamshire home she had shared with her then TV-chef husband Phil Vickery in 2020.
READ MORE: Fern Britton reveals she was bullied as young newsreader in the 1980s but didn’t realise until she listened to a radio report ‘years later’
Britton moved into the cosy cottage To heal from their separation after 20 years of marriage and to process the deaths of her parents.
The TV presenter has been holidaying in Cornwall since she was a child and even became a local reporter there in the 1980s.
But her bolthole became a nightmare when her stalker began turning up in the village.
Last week Haviland appeared at Bodmin magistrates’ where he admitted stalking without fear, alarm or distress between November 20, 2021 and September 16, 2023.
Prosecutor Samantha Rogers named ‘Fern Britton, a TV personality’ as his victim.
She said: ‘Over a prolonged period he sent flowers, stayed in a particular village moving closer to where she lives and staying in a cottage that she owns.’
Haviland appeared via a video link in court and wore glasses and a jumper over a shirt as he confirmed he understood the charges.
JPs bailed him while a probation report was prepared ahead of sentencing at Basingstoke magistrates court on June 18.
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