Actor Alec Baldwin was moved to tears while testifying in the trial of an aspiring Canadian actress charged with stalking him and his wife, calling the accused “dangerous” and saying that he just wanted her to leave him alone.

Wiping away a tear, the Emmy-award winning actor, 55, said Genevieve Sabourin ruined his engagement day to Hilaria Baldwin, now his wife, with an unannounced visit to his home in East Hampton, New York.

Sabourin also threatened to enter his home and place of work, he told the New York Criminal Court in lower Manhattan.

“That’s when I knew she was dangerous,” Baldwin said.

Sabourin, 41, is charged with 24 counts of harassment and stalking and could face up to a year in prison if convicted. In his complaint, Baldwin said Sabourin bombarded him with dozens of e-mails, claiming that she was going to start a “massive destructive war” against him, and that she wanted to start her new life as his wife.

Sabourin’s defence attorney argued that she and the actor had a personal relationship. He gave examples of conversations in numerous e-mails between the two and presented evidence showing they corresponded for a year.

But Baldwin said he “erred on the side of kindness” by responding to her e-mails at the request of his friend, movie producer Martin Bregman, who was dating Sabourin.

“I’m never instigating these conversations. Never. Never. Never,” Baldwin said.