A “delusional” stalker who left actress Claire Foy feeling “fearful” has been handed a suspended sentence and will be repatriated to the US. Jason Penrose, 49, was sentenced to one year and 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at the Old Bailey on Friday.
In November he pleaded guilty to stalking Foy, who played the young Queen in the first two series of the hit Netflix show The Crown, between August 2021 and February 2022. He also admitted two charges of breaching an interim stalking ban order by sending a letter and a parcel to the Golden Globe winner.
Penrose was given a stalking protection order in July after sending the actress, 38, thousands of emails and turning up at her door. On Friday, Judge David Aaronberg KC said he remains “troubled” that Penrose, a paranoid schizophrenic, “may continue to be infatuated with Ms Foy”, despite having been repeatedly told she wants no contact from him.
The conditions of his suspended sentence include that he must remain under the care of a psychiatrist in the UK until his repatriation, and that he must co-operate fully with his return to the US. The court heard that he will return to Florida to live with his mother and receive further psychiatric care.
If he returns to the UK during his suspended sentence, he must notify the Metropolitan Police of his arrival, telling them where he intends to stay and for how long. Judge Aaronberg also imposed a restraining order banning him from contacting or attempting to contact Ms Foy directly or indirectly, and from sending any letters, gifts, parcels or packages to her.
Penrose is also barred from entering the London boroughs of Camden and Islington, apart from to collect his US passport. He is prohibited from going within 100 metres of any premises at which he knows or has reason to believe that Ms Foy might be present.
Penrose was bearded, wearing an open collar white shirt and dark jacket in court. The judge said Ms Foy has “become scared and suspicious of post she does not recognise and of her front doorbell ringing” in the wake of the stalking.
He added: “She told the police she was frightened to leave her property in case you might follow her.”
Quoting a statement from the actress, he said: “I feel like the freedoms I enjoyed before Mr Penrose contacted me have now gone. I view the world in a much more fearful way.”
The court heard that Home Office records show Penrose sought permission to enter the United Kingdom in October 2021, but was refused entry. The judge said there is no record of him being cleared for “lawful entry to the UK” and that he was liable to be deported had he not voluntarily agreed to return to the US.
Following the sentence, Varinder Hayre, district crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: “Stalking is a devastating crime that can ruin the lives of victims. Victims often feel as though their lives have been invaded, which can leave a huge mark that long outlives the offending.
“No one should be made to feel unsafe in their home or their life. We take stalking cases extremely seriously and will always endeavour to prosecute this type of offending wherever the legal test is met.”
