Sir Lenny Henry’s daughter that he shares with Dawn French was given a suspended prison sentence back in 2020 after setting up a fake email address pretending to be her father.
Billie Roman Henry was a few weeks old when she was adopted by Lenny and his now ex-wife Dawn French – who narrates the Secret World of Crisps on Channel 4 this weekend (August 11).
She used her family connections in a “threatening” and “manipulative” way so she didn’t get dumped by boyfriend Samuel King, a court heard.
Truro Crown Court heard that the message was part of a sustained campaign of harassment.
Sentence handed down for Dawn French and Lenny Henry’s daughter
Judge Simon Carr sentenced her to an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for a year. Billie was also handed a five-year restraining order. The offences took place over five months between 2018 and 2019.
Meanwhile, Judge Carr told her: “You were in a relationship with Samuel King and you found forming relationships difficult.
You sent a barrage of messages, most manipulative and some threatening.
“When the relationship ended you found it difficult to accept and set up a number of false emails. You sent a barrage of messages, most manipulative and some threatening.”
In addition, he said: “Your primary motivation was to try and continue the relationship. The messages were very substantial in number and went on for five months. It had a significant psychological and financial effect on him.
“You had an at times unique childhood, which must have been very challenging. You never sought any publicity but publicity follows you for reasons beyond your control. I hope you receive the help you need and the support to assist you.”
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‘Suffocating’
Meanwhile, the court heard that Billie’s “suffocating” behaviour became too much for King.
Simon Farmer, prosecuting, told the court how “a complex series of highly manipulative false messages” followed. The messages included falsely claiming her father had been abusive.
He added: “Billie Henry falsely pretended to be her father saying he would help Samuel King out of debt by paying him large amounts of money. She also claimed to Mr King that her father had assaulted her and made threats to Mr King too.”
Dawn’s struggles to conceive
The comedian previously spoke to The Telegraph in 2015 about adopting her daughter. She said that after struggling to have a baby, and suffering miscarriages, she and Lenny adopted Billie – a newborn at the time.
“I had grief for a while. I did have miscarriages, so I’ve had grief about that as well. But the minute Billie arrived that was it for me. She fills everything I needed to be as a mother.”
She’s also shared a picture of her on Instagram captioned: “My beautiful girl.”
Speaking to Hello, Dawn has also said of Billie: “Our bond is unbreakable. We have the same amount of mother/daughter friction that any mum and daughter have, it’s no more or less. But I’ve learnt a lot about her. And she’s learnt a lot about me.”
Billie is now in her mid-thirties.
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