I’m a criminologist who was stalked by a man who thought he was Sean Penn

A university professor has opened up about how he was stalked by a man who thought he was the Hollywood actor, Sean Penn.    

Criminologist David Wilson, who lectures at Birmingham City University told ITV’s This Morning about his stalking ordeal to mark National Stalking Awareness Week.

David, originally from Sauchie, Scotland, said he was stalked by a man who he thought at first was a student wanting to get in touch about their work. 

He told Holly and Phil: ‘I was stalked by a man and at first I thought he was a student and I just thought he was trying to make connection to me because he was a student.

‘But it soon became clear he wasn’t. I tried to speak to him, I realised there were some issues there beyond someone simply trying to make a connection about their essays.

‘I contacted campus security, what that did though is escalate his behaviour so that he started to email and write letters to me. 

‘It was the letters that really were an indication of his underlying mental health issues.

‘In one of the letters, he threatened to kill me, stab me repeatedly it said in the letter, until I was dead. It allowed me to escalate this so I contacted the police.’

But two weeks later, David was faced with his stalker again. 

David added: ‘He said he was Sean Penn, he said he was the Hollywood actor Sean Penn and that I had stolen his script and he was stalking me because he wanted his script back. Because I hadn’t given it to him, he was going to stab me until I was dead.

David spoke to Holly and Phil on This Morning about his stalker ordeal, which they both called ‘terrifying’ 

‘During my office hours there’s a knock on the door, I say “come in” and there’s someone in the doorway who says to me “I want my script back, I’ve written to you.” 

‘The first thing I did was look at his hands because he threatened to stab me and I realised he wasn’t carrying a weapon. 

David then invited his stalker into his office to take a seat said the script was by a photocopier and that he would get it for him. 

He said that this allowed him to leave the office and contact police and security. 

David added the man was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. 

The criminologist also gave some advice on what to do if are being stalked: ‘If you are worried about these behaviours, don’t stay quiet, they won’t disappear of their own accord. 

‘Talk to your family about what’s happening to you, talk to your friends, to your work colleagues, start noting down the patterns of behaviour that are unwanted and intruding into your life. 

‘And all the evidence suggests if this unwanted behaviour continues for longer than two weeks, it will not go away by its own accord, you’re going to have to call the police.’