British actor Benedict Cumberbatch and his family feared for their lives when a former chef at a luxury hotel attacked them inside their home with a knife. Jack Bissell, 35, kicked his way through the iron gate of the wall garden intercom and threatened them.
Bissell, who has not explained his assault on Cumberbatch and his family, was screaming. “I know you’ve moved here, I hope it burns down.” Cumberbatch, 46, his wife Sophie Hunter, 45, and his three young children were home at the time and could hear Bissell banging on their door and yelling insults.
Bissell fled the scene without escalating the tension, but was arrested after police found his DNA on the intercom. The details about the investigation, which occurred a few months ago, have come to light this Tuesday after the judicial process.
The event was tried at the beginning of this month and has been announced this Tuesday in the British media. British justice has sentenced Jack to pay a large fine and has imposed a three-year restraining order against the family of Benedict Cumberbatch. Bissell’s motive for this attack on the Oscar nominee is not clear and he offered no defense in court.
Prosecutors revealed that before showing up at the Sherlock star’s home, Bissell bought two packages of pita bread from a nearby store and yelled at the grocer that he would break into Cumberbatch’s home and burn it to the ground.
Bissell, who in 2015 was arrested in his underpants during a protest in central London against military intervention in Syria, had worked at the Beaumont hotel for two seasons in 2017-2018 and 2019-2020. Apart from this latest conviction, he has another previous one for robbery, three reprimands for crimes against property, a crime for disturbing public order and a drug crime.
