Andrew chased by alleged stalker near Sandringham home, court hears

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor said he came face-to-face with an alleged stalker wearing a balaclava who chased after him in a confrontation close to his Sandringham home in Norfolk, a court heard.

Alex Jenkinson, 39, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, is accused of causing the former duke to "fear unlawful violence" during an encounter as he walked his dogs on 6 May. Suffolk Police is applying for a civil Stalking Protection Order against Jenkinson.

The trial is expected to begin on 21 December.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard parts of Mountbatten-Windsor's witness statement - which is due to form the centrepiece of both legal proceedings - in which he described the encounter.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram read out parts of the statement in which Mountbatten-Windsor said he spotted a car which he assumed belonged to press photographers, and then he and his security detail "drove past the car".

He said a man "turned and faced me – he was wearing a balaclava face covering".

He provided a description of the "out-of-place" man, and added in his statement: "I then saw a loose dog running towards him.

"Then he realised who I was and began to sprint after my vehicle."

The court hearing took place in Jenkinson's absence as he was blocked from the building after arriving with his dog.

The defendant's lawyer, Claire Howell, told Judge Ikram the dog was her client's support animal, as he has ADHD, was homeless and needed his dog with him.

She conceded that she has no documents to prove Jenkinson's medical condition, or his need for a support animal.

Jenkinson denies the public order offence against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and has also pleaded not guilty to a further charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence against another man, Stephen Terry, in King's Lynn, on 5 May.

Jenkinson, who comes from Stowmarket, Suffolk, is also fighting the making of the Stalking Protection Order.

The defendant is on conditional bail and cannot go near Sandringham, Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Windsor or Highgrove.

He is also forbidden from trying to contact Mountbatten-Windsor directly or indirectly, or approach him, or enter Norfolk.