Man admits miaowing through Keira Knightley's letterbox in stalking campaign

Stalking victim: Keira Knightley
Facebook
John Dunne @jhdunne21 November 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A man has pleaded guilty to stalking Hollywood A-lister Keira Knightley by making miaowing noises through her letterbox and bombarding her with cat-themed messages.

Mark Revill, 49, from Hackney bombarded her with letters and shouted through her letterbox, Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, was told.

He appeared in court in custody wearing a grey jumper and hung his head as he pleaded guilty.

Ms Knightley, 31, star of Pirates of the Caribbean, Bend it Like Beckham and a string of other hits, suffered “alarm and distress”, according to the charge.

The incidents happened between August 1 and 22 October 2016.

Prosecutor Simma Khan told Highbury Corner Magistrates: “He made miaowing noises through the letterbox. He drew in chalk on the street an arrow pointing to her front door. He sent her music about cats on a USB stick... It was bizarre behaviour.”

Keira Knightley, pictued with husband James Righton from the Klaxons, who chased Revill down the street
Dave Benett

The charge states: “The defendant pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the stalking of Keira Knightly and which knew or ought to have known amounted to the harassment of her in that attending her address on numerous occasions, making noises through her letterbox and sending letters and other communications.”

The incidents took place at the actress’s London home.

The court heard that the stalker, a music composer, had stood outside her house for an hour without making contact on at least one occasion.

His lawyer said he was a music composer and merely wanted to promote that by getting the celebrity to listen to it.

The stalker admitted to police that he was in love with her.

The prosecution said: "After putting letters through the letterbox and receiving no response he goes to the letterbox and miaows through it."

One letter had a picture of three cats apparently winking, the court heard.

The Hollywood actresses' husband James Righton, of rock band the Klaxons, gave chase to Revill on one occasion he appeared outside the house.

One message read to the court from Revill, a music composer, said: "Have you listened to my music?"

The court heard the notes were handwritten with no stamps so were hand delivered.

Revill was remanded in custody and will appear at Highbury Magistrates' Court for sentencing on December 1.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in