A man described as an “obsessive” fan with a “sexual interest” in Billie Piper has been jailed for 12 months after breaching a stalking prevention order imposed to protect the actress.
Philip Jerome appeared before Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on his 49th birthday to be sentenced after admitting four breaches of the order. Prosecutor Anisa Alrubaie told the court that Jerome, of Winchester, Hampshire, had been made subject to the stalking prevention order in relation to Ms Piper in July 2022.
Images and posts found on devices
The court heard that police examining Jerome’s electronic devices on Dec 27 2025 discovered four images of the former Doctor Who star stored on his phone. Officers also found that he had tagged 11 posts and images relating to Ms Piper on X, including AI-generated images, across four separate days earlier that month.
Ms Alrubaie stated this included a solitary remark on 7th December 2025 where Jerome wrote: “I think I know which image probably made me fall for (Ms Piper), the GQ awards, and made me want to meet her. She is great without a bra too.”
Background of harassment
Ms Alrubaie explained that Ms Piper's X account was managed by her personal assistant and she lacked direct access to it. She stated: “She doesn't generally inform Ms Piper of posts, there is a significant amount of negativity that is not relevant and she doesn't need to be made aware.”
The court heard that Jerome was placed under a restraining order in 2018 following visits to Ms Piper's residential address, posting cards through her letterbox and dispatching letters by post to her. He subsequently violated this order in December of that year by sending Facebook messages to her mother and sister “expressing a wish for them to meet up” and by turning up at Ms Piper's property, making remarks about her relationship.
Officers also discovered ringbinders at his residence filled with newspaper cuttings, event information and various memorabilia.
Sentencing and defence
Jerome was subsequently imprisoned for 12 months in 2022 for breaching the restraining order by appearing at a Comicon convention where he posed for a fan photograph twice on the same day with Ms Piper, changing his outfit for the second encounter. The court was told that during the second incident Ms Piper identified Jerome and security personnel removed him from the venue.
The defendant had previously been found guilty of harassment dating back to 2012 against a female acquaintance by “sleeping outside her address in the woods”, the court was informed.
Sentencing Jerome, District Judge Kirsty Allman stated: “You have a sexual interest in Ms Piper making reference to her without have a bra on and so on.” She continued: “The motivation is to contact her in the hope she will engage in a relationship with you. You demonstrated an entrenched pattern of stalking and harassment offences, and failing to comply with court orders.”
Caroline Bonavia, defending, argued: “Were it not for the order, these (offences) would be very similar to what a keen fan would post about a public figure. A lot of them are similar images of her head in an Andy Warhol arrangement, many repeats essentially of her face and sometimes with AI. The difference for him is that he must not do this and he accepts it.”
Ms Bonavia noted that Jerome had displayed a lack of remorse and empathy, had recently been diagnosed with autism and had sought psychological support to prevent him from pursuing “obsessive and unsuccessful relationships”. She stated that his violations “had moved a great deal away from what one would think were the terrifying elements” and went on to say: “He needs to learn that fan or not, even this sort of posting is not permitted.”
