Bullock wants stalker to stay away

Los Angeles: Sandra Bullock wants a judge to extend a 2003 stay-away order against a man she accuses of stalking her across three US states.

Thomas James Weldon's failure to appear to rebut Bullock's allegations resulted in Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon issuing a default judgment against him on June 6, 2003.

Weldon, 37, was ordered to stay 200 yards (182 meters) from the actress and to not contact her for three years.

Bullock wants the keep-away order extended because it expires on June 5. Judge Marion Johnson was to consider the extension at a hearing on May 31.

Forty-one-year Bullock whose court papers describe her as an actress, writer, director, producer and music composer, said in a court declaration that she and Weldon were never acquainted.

"I do not know the defendant, I have never met him and I have never communicated with him nor voluntarily accepted any communication from him," she said.

Bullock has alleged that Weldon followed her from Michigan to Texas and California. She said he also sent her e-mails and faxes and left voice mail messages with her and her family.

And his every communication indicated that he wants to have a relationship with her.

According to a statement by Bullock's attorney, Edwin F. McPherson, Weldon had voluntarily entered the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute in Nashville just before the 2003 order.

He had admitted of suffering from a serious psychological disorder (paranoid schizophrenia) for which he has often refused to take medication.

McPherson said the hospital is planning to allow Weldon a 90-day furlough in September, and that he believes will let Weldon remain fixated on his client.