Los Angeles, March 9 : Hollywood star Jason Isaacs revealed he feared he'd be "stabbed" by his stalker.

He even slammed police as being "next to useless" when it came to dealing with the situation and refusing to take him seriously "for a long time" over the menacing advances of an unnamed young woman, which began in the late 1990s, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

He told the i newspaper: 'I went mad with it. I should have written a film about it. 'Baby Reindeer' is maybe slightly more dramatic but not much. I was terrified my house would be burned down or I'd be stabbed.

"And because it was a young woman the police didn't take it seriously for a long time. She might read this, which is disturbing.'

Isaacs recalled how one night, the woman was arrested outside his house, released by mistake and then reappeared at his front door.

Another time, one cop allegedly told him to "just knock her out", and on a different occasion, police suggested he change his name and occupation.

He fumed: 'That's an insane suggestion! They were next to useless, the police. They kept insisting I must have had an affair with her. And I'd never met her.'

The 'Harry Potter' star previously told how he had taken the woman to court "a number of times" but she would "obsessively and constantly" contact him once restraining orders had expired.

The actor was convinced his stalker was constantly "watching" for him on his street.

He said: "'Friends make jokes about it, but then I explain what it is like having someone

standing outside your door banging in the early hours of the morning and suddenly a chill goes over the room.

"What was really strange was I'd be away from home for six months or a year filming and then it would start again the day I got back. So, I thought, 'Wow, is she just standing in my street every day watching?' "

/IANS