The How I Met Your Mother actress' petition was agreed in a Los Angeles court yesterday, which instructed John Hobbs, 43, to stay 100 yards away from her and her family, and stop posting about her online.

The flame-haired star claims he has repeatedly threatened her and her husband Alexis Denisof as well as their two young daughters, Satyana, three, and nine-month-old Keeva.

Hannigan petitioned the courts after receiving a "barrage of threatening messages" and feeling "severe fear for my safety and the safety of my family".

New Hampshire resident Hobbs - who was allegedly recently released from a psychiatric hospital - is said to have claimed he wanted to rape and kill Hannigan, 38.

An officer who interviewed the obsessive fan wrote in the legal documents: "John seemed to be living in an alternate reality".

Hobbs admitted to police that he wanted to travel to California to meet the actress.

A hearing to extend the restraining order to cover the American Pie star and her family for a period of three years is scheduled for March 6 in Los Angeles.