A former chef at a Mayfair hotel damaged the home of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch and his family while brandishing a fish knife, a court has heard.
The Doctor Strange star, 46, his wife, Sophie Hunter, 45, and their three young children were inside the property in north London during the incident.
Jack Bissell kicked the front garden’s iron gate open and shouted: “I know you’ve moved here, I hope it burns down,” a court was told earlier this month.
The 34-year-old, who spent two periods as chef de partie at a five-star hotel in west London between 2017 and 2020, pulled a plant from the garden and threw it at the wall. He then spat at the property’s intercom and attacked it using the fish knife, the court heard.
Bissell fled the scene and was arrested after his DNA was found on the intercom, the Daily Mail reported. He pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Wood Green crown court in north London on 10 May.
He was fined £250 and given a three-year restraining order preventing him from going near the family and the area in which they live.
The prosecution told the court that before the attack Bissell bought two packs of pitta bread from a nearby shop and told the shopkeeper he was going to break in and burn down Cumberbatch’s house.
Bissell offered no defence in court about his actions, the Daily Mail reported.
Details of the case were prevented from being reported until blanket restrictions were successfully challenged.
