Overview

• Reading Crown Court imposed a 24-month community order with a 12-month electronically monitored exclusion requirement and 10 rehabilitation activity days.
• A 15-year restraining order bars contact with Friel or her daughter and sets exclusion zones around her Windsor home, parts of the Long Walk and the Fairmont Hotel and Spa.
• Friel’s statement said the stalking left her feeling threatened and constantly watchful, with particular fear for her daughter’s safety.
• Prosecutors described a pattern from 2022 to December 2024 that included obsessive emails, joining her health club, a naked selfie, doorstep visits, and CCTV of him mouthing “I love you” and holding up a ring.
• Appleton, 71, was arrested on December 11, 2024, spent about six months in custody or a secure hospital, pleaded guilty to a Section 2A stalking offence, and expressed shame as the judge noted the absence of violence.