Kidman crushes bug

OSCAR-WINNING Australian star Nicole Kidman won restraining orders against the photographers after a listening device was found outside her Sydney home and after a reported high-speed car chase.

Kidman said yesterday she had been a virtual prisoner in her Sydney home, fearing for her safety if she left due to the actions of two photographers staking out her harbour-side house.

Waverley Local Court ordered Jamie Fawcett, aged 43, and Ben McDonald, aged 32, not to approach Kidman at her home or go within 60 feet of her home at Darling Point.

The two Sydney freelance photographers had been staking out the house since Kidman returned on Sunday to begin filming a new movie, Eucalyptus.

Kidman said in a statement that she was grateful the court had granted the restraining orders because she had been afraid to leave her home.

“Nicole would like to make it clear that she acknowledges she is a public figure and that reporters and photographers have a job to do and she respects that,” said the statement from Kidman’s Sydney publicist Wendy Day.

“However, these are specific actions against two individuals who have caused her to feel threatened, intimidated and unable to leave home without fearing for her safety.”

A listening device was left across the road from her home on Sunday in what police are investigating as a possible bugging attempt.