Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour has spoken of how she has been left “severely agoraphobic” and unable to leave home following a phone theft that turned violent in west London.
The 27-year-old was attacked in a café in February after she confronted a man who had taken her phone.
Speaking to the BBC for the first time about the assault, which left her concussed and traumatised, the actress said it had caused her to move out of the capital to live with her mother. “I no longer feel safe calling West London home as a single woman,” she said.
Last month, Zacariah Boulares, 18, was sentenced to 22 months in jail for common assault and three counts of theft.
Chenneour, who played Clara Livingston in season three of Bridgerton, had been meeting her ex-boyfriend at Joe & The Juice on Kensington High Street when her phone was taken from a table.
CCTV footage shows her then grabbing the thief in a bid to get her phone back, after which the altercation quickly escalated into what she described as a “full-on fight between four people for about five minutes”.
“I was just facing forward at the back of a café, so there shouldn’t really have been anything going on behind me,” Chenneour told BBC News.
“I thought it was a moment to kind of relax. I put my phone down next to me, and the next thing I knew… it felt like a darkness came over me.”
Chennoeur said she sensed something was wrong before realising her phone was missing. When she turned, she saw a man in a black hoodie standing directly in front of her.
‘Something hit me’
Chenneour said she “very quickly asked for my phone back” but Boulares refused.
“Luckily, I had my ex there. So I made the first move of grabbing him to get the phone and then I pushed him by his chest or neck to create some distance,” she said.
Chenneour and her ex-boyfriend tried to stop the man from fleeing, but the situation intensified when another man entered the cafe.
“They threatened stabbing me. It escalated. I didn’t know what to do because if you get off them and you’re fighting, is that an opportunity for them to stab you?”
She said she briefly blacked out during the confrontation.
“It went black. I don’t know what hit me, but something hit me. Then it carried on and I ended up on his back with my arm around his neck,” she recounted.
Someone shouted that the police had arrived and that the doors had been locked.
Chenneour said she then let go, hoping officers would take charge. But the claim that they had arrived was false and the suspect ran off.
Repeat offender Boulares, 18, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on 1 July.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers investigated a 19-year-old man following the incident at Joe & The Juice but no further action was taken again him.
‘Like a fever dream’
Chenneour said not knowing the identity of the second man continued to frighten her.
“I can’t understand why someone’s walking around who has threatened to stab me,” she said.
“That just shouldn’t be the case. I feel like I deserve to know that person’s name.
“How can you threaten to stab someone and be walking around knowing that the guy you did that with is in prison?”
She also said she had no prior knowledge that the CCTV footage would be released, and did not consent to its circulation.
“I woke up to this viral video of me defending myself. I blacked out, so I didn’t know that I’d done that. Watching that video was just the most bizarre experience. It was like a fever dream.”
The psychological impact of the attack, she told the BBC, has been severe and long-lasting.
Chenneour said she had become severely agoraphobic, adding: “I didn’t want to leave the house. And then if I did leave the house, I wanted to be with someone.
“But I felt like a burden. That’s a really dark downward spiral that you can find yourself in.”
She said she stayed in hotels when returning to London for work.
“I’ve avoided public transport, changed my routines, and I’m currently exploring therapy options,” Chenneour added.
She praised the café’s staff, especially the women who called police and supported her. She also expressed appreciation for the officers who responded on the day – but criticised the lack of long-term support from the Met Police.
Chenneour said there was “no co-ordinated aftercare” and she was “left to survive the aftermath myself”.
“I’ve spoken to people who’ve done the exact same thing after something similar happened. This affects every part of your life,” she said.
‘Relentlessly pursuing gangs’
Asked what message she would give to those carrying out attacks like the one she experienced, she said: “You have no idea what people are dealing with when you rob them, threaten them, hurt them.
“You don’t need to hurt people to get where you want to in life. There’s a better choice.”
The Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers were “relentlessly pursuing criminal gangs intent on committing robbery and phone theft”.
They added: “We have increased patrols in hotspot areas to identify and deter perpetrators.”
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