Fern Britton stalker avoids jail after leaving star 'scared and disturbed'
ITV presenter Fern Britton was reportedly subjected to two years of "harassment" by an obsessed fan who sent her flowers and rented her holiday cottage.
A stalker who subjected Fern Britton to two years of "harassment" has avoided jail. The fan reportedly sent the ITV star flowers and drove 200 miles from his home to be closer to her.
James Haviland, 63, has been given a 10-year restraining order and told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to stalking TV presenter Fern Britton.
Mr Haviland admitted that he stalked Fern for two years. He began sending the This Morning star flowers and cards.
He then stayed in Ms Britton's property for a week in September 2023, and made a further booking to stay there for another week in November of that year. It was then he was reported to the police.
Sentencing Haviland at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, District Judge Stephen Apted said he had caused the former This Morning presenter "distress and anxiety" by his "prolonged campaign" of stalking.
As well as the restraining order, the defendant was handed a 12-month community order which requires him to complete 12 rehabilitation sessions and 150 hours of unpaid work - and he was told to pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
Fern moved to Cornwall in 2020 after spending a decade living with her ex-husband Phil Vickery in Buckinghamshire. She appeared in the Channel 5 show, My Cornwall, and two years after her move, she started to receive the attention of Haviland.
Last month, 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.”
