Bullock stalker avoids jail time

A woman has been given a three-year probationary sentence after pleading guilty to stalking actress Sandra Bullock.

47-year-old Marcia Valentine was handed the sentence in addition to a three-year restraining order filed in May 2007 after she tried to run over Bullock's husband Jesse James.

The incident occurred when James stepped outside the couple's Sunset Beach home to write down Valentine's licence plate number in April 2007. Valentine, who had been lying in the driveway, then shouted obscenities at him and attempted to run him over in her vehicle.

Bullock has previously testified in court that Valentine left "weird signs" on her property along with "pieces of animal fur".

A charge of assault with a deadly weapon was dropped against Valentine after she pleaded guilty to stalking at Orange County Superior Court last week.