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Man cleared of harassing Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Morton
Last updated at 17:16pm on 31.03.08A man was yesterday cleared of stalking Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Morton but convicted of harassing her agent.
Noel Watts, 42, had been accused of sending angry text messages and making phone calls to the agent, Nicola Van Gelder, which he hoped would be communicated to the star.
Miss Morton, 30, told City of Westminster magistrates that she was 'petrified' by the behaviour of Watts, whom she met when she was 13 and growing up in a children's home.
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Samantha Morton was left frightened after being sent a string of messages
Watts admitted sending 40 texts and making ten phone calls to Miss Van Gelder but denied harassment.
The actress leaving court earlier this month after giving evidence in the case
Only one message was passed on to Miss Morton and that alone, said District Judge Quentin Purdy, could not constitute harassment.
Watts, of Clifton, Nottingham, was ordered not to contact the women and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. He walked free because he had served nine weeks on remand.
After Watts, from Clifton, Nottingham, continued to send Miss Van Gelder letters and make "threatening" phone calls, he was given a harassment order and banned from contacting her.
But just after Christmas 2007, Miss Van Gelder received a text from a number she did not recognise addressed "to Sam c/o Nikky".
Over the next month, her agent received up to 11 texts a day from Watts and was bombarded with calls demanding to speak to her.
Judge Purdy told Watts yesterday: "This type of offence is serious. It causes people great anxiety. I've seen the witnesses, I've heard them.
"It's clear to me that Nicola Van Gelden is clearly a person of some character.
"She was clearly caused a great deal of anxiety by the persistence of this communication... it seems to me that you knew that very well and continued to communicate."
The 30-year-old actress has not seen Watts since moving to London at the age of 16.
