Man charged over alleged threats to anti-Brexit politicians
The New European
Former speaker John Bercow in the House of Commons - Credit: Archant
A man has been charged with sending threatening emails to a series of anti-Brexit politicians - including former Commons speaker John Bercow and European Movement leading campaigner Dominic Grieve.
Court documents show Paul Ritchie, 34, has been charged with nearly 30 counts of sending a letter, communication or article conveying a threatening message against a series of politicians.
Alleged victims include Bercow, Grieve, ex-Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, former home secretary Amber Rudd, one-time London mayoral candidate and ex-cabinet minister Rory Stewart, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, and current Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.
Court documents show Ritchie is accused of sending former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn an email in March 2019 containing the message: “You should be hung for treason you f****** terrorist”.
The same month he allegedly sent an email to the speaker’s office, saying “1 in 17 million is bad odds for some nutter to pull a Jo Cox on you and your staff”, the indictment said, and a week later allegedly added in another email: “Be careful… [y]ou wouldn’t want to get run over”.
In other messages to Bercow’s office, Ritchie is alleged to have threatened: “I’m going to milkshake you you prick”, and made references to Brexit and democracy.
In an email on May 2019 to former politician Chuka Umunna, who represented several parties, Ritchie is alleged to have written: “You have been warned… shut your f****** mouth boy”.
Most Read
- 1 Extra cost of post-Brexit paperwork sees NI exports routed via Republic instead
- 2 Boris Johnson: Liar of the land
- 3 Campaign urges Brits to declare themselves 'European' on 2021 census
- 4 Boris Johnson contemplates charity fund to bankroll Carrie Symonds' Downing Street refurb
- 5 EU expects permanent NI Brexit border checks by middle of 2021
- 6 David Cameron claims EU referendum was 'thought through' and necessary
- 7 Whitehall ‘furiously trying to manage expectations down’ on Brexit memo
- 8 Leave camp turned Brexit into a religion to capture votes, study finds
- 9 Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to prison for corruption
- 10 Brexit has robbed Britain of the mechanism to deliver on climate change
In July that year, he is said to have followed up with: “If you kill brexit… [w]e will kill you and your entire family”.
And he allegedly told Stewart in June 2019: “If you block Brexit… you like likely [sic] be assassinated”.
Court documents alleged he told Swinson she deserved to be hanged, he claimed to Rudd that she was “definitely going to be assassinated”.
In a couple of messages to Blackford in June 2019, court documents claim Ritchie sent the threats “I hope you die” and “I dare you to come to the pub in Westminster and say some of the shit you do in the house”.
A court official at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said Ritchie, of Dolphinton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, would be called to enter his pleas on February 25.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
