Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch’s family home in London was attacked and damaged by an ex-chef wielding a fish knife.
The Marvel actor, his wife, Sophie Hunter, and their three children were all at home when Jack Bissell kicked through their front garden’s iron gate.
A court was told earlier this month that Bissell was heard shouting: “I know you’ve moved here, I hope it burns down.”
Bissell – who worked as a chef at a Mayfair hotel until 2020 – tore out a plant and threw it at the garden wall, before spitting at the intercom and cutting it loose using a fish knife, the court was told.
Although he fled the scene, reports claim he was later arrested after his DNA was found on the intercom.
Before his attack, Bissell had bought two packs of pitta bread from a nearby shop and told the shopkeeper he was going to break in and burn down the house, the prosecution told the court.
Bissell pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Wood Green Crown Court on 10 May.
He was also fined £250 and given a three-year restraining order preventing him going near Benedict’s family and the area they live.
Benedict Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter at last year’s Oscars
Details of the case had initially been blocked from being reported on until blanket restrictions were successfully challenged by the Daily Mail this week.
Bissell, who has a previous conviction for theft, three warnings for offences against property, a public order offence and a drug offence, offered no defence in court nor did he offer any explanation as to why he had targeted the Oscar nominee.
In 2015, he was photographed being arrested during protests against military intervention in Syria in central London.