Claire Foy: Obsessed stalker threatened to rape 'The Crown' star, court hears

An obsessed stalker bombarded The Crown star Claire Foy with 1,000 emails in one month and threatened to rape her, a court has heard.

Jason Penrose, 39, sent the actor's publicist Emma Jackson emails about the star being raped and said he wanted to be her boyfriend, Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court was told.

Jackson forwarded the emails to Foy’s agent, who had also been sent the messages but had blocked the sender’s account.

Foy, 38, who played the Queen in the first two series’ of Netflix series The Crown, called police on 17 December last year when Penrose turned up to her home and was ringing her doorbell “constantly”.

She was granted a temporary stalking protection order in February which bans Penrose from contacting her or her publicist.

He was also banned from attending their homes, places of work or anywhere he would reasonably expect them to be.

Jackson and Foy’s agent were both receiving emails allegedly sent from Penrose but had blocked the account.

Court documents say: “The emails Ms Jackson continued to receive were quite graphic and talked about Foy being raped… and wanting her to be his girlfriend…

“You pose a risk associated with stalking and to another person and there is a reasonable cause to believe the proposed order is necessary to protect another from such a risk.”

Rosa Bennathan, prosecuting on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, told the court that Penrose had sent more than 1,000 emails to Jackson about Foy from November to 2 December, 2021.

She said: “[Penrose] also contacted Ms Foy’s sister and later attended Ms Foy’s address having worked out where that was.

“It is clear an order is necessary. There have been some breaches of the order which are currently being investigated by the police.”

Penrose, who is not legally represented, spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and address at a mental health hospital in north London as he asked to be represented by a lawyer.

He also asked for media to be banned from the hearing, but that request was refused.

A decision about whether he should be handed a full stalking protection order, which is a civil rather than criminal matter, is expected to be made but the case could be adjourned to a future date.

Penrose could face up to five years behind bars if he is charged with and found guilty of breaching the order.

Stockport-born Foy has won a Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Screen Actors Guild awards.

She has also starred in Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Unsane and played Neil Armstrong’s wife Janet Shearon in First Man, a biopic of the astronaut.