Benedict Cumberbatch, the AAA-actor who’s played Doctor Strange, Sherlock Holmes and Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit movies, is okay; we’ll say that up front. This story is more weird than scary, or maybe scarily weird.
The Daily Mail recently obtained court documents from a proceeding that took place early in May. That proceeding involved a 34-year-old man named Jack Bissell, a former chef at a five-star restaurant who attacked Cumberbatch’s home in north London with a fish knife.
A fish knife, incidentally, is a utensil meant for use while eating fish. It’s not the most threatening knife in the world but I still don’t want anyone waving one in my face.
Man attacks Benedict Cumberbatch’s home while he and his family were inside
Bissell didn’t get that far. He kicked the iron gate of the home’s front garden and shouted, “I know you’ve moved here, I hope it burns down.” He then pulled a plant from the garden and threw it at the wall before spitting on the property’s intercom and attacking it using the fish knife.
Benedict Cumberbatch, his wife Sophie Hunter, and their three children were all in the residence at the time, although none of them were hurt. As for Bissell, he pleaded guilty to criminal damage, was fined £250 (around $310), and given a three-year restraining order forbidding him from going near Cumberbatch, Cumberbatch’s family or the area where they live.
Apparently Bissell had it out for Cumberbatch for a while; according to the prosecution, he had previously told a shopkeeper that he planned to break into Cumberbatch’s house and burn the place down. But Bissell offered no defense for his actions at court, so we never heard him speak on the reason he wanted to do any of this.
And honestly, I’m a little sad about that, because I’m curious. Did he have some beef with Cumberbatch? Did he just really hate Doctor Strange 2? Was he simply mentally unwell? Some combination of the above?
Not that I want to make light of this (too much). At least no one was hurt.
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h/t The A.V. Club