Brexiteer faces jail for Bercow and Corbyn threats
A Brexiteer troll who threatened to hang, shoot or decapitate prominent politicians including former Speaker John Bercow ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing jail.
Businessman Paul Ritchie, 34, sent 28 emails to 13 different public figures between March and August 2019.
The Scot littered messages with death threats as he targeted politicians he accused of ‘blocking Brexit’ and derailing ‘democracy’, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Ritchie admitted 28 counts of sending a communication conveying a threatening message at Southwark Crown Court today (thurs) and now faces up to two years jail.
Police traced Ritchie through the use of his personal and business addresses and he was arrested at a London address on 7 July 2019.
It emerged today Ritchie also faces prosecution for threatening messages to public figures in Scotland, and awaits sentence for those offences north of the border.
Ruby Selva, prosecuting, said: ‘There have been, it now appears, two sets of offending in 2019 for similar matters in Scotland.
‘It appears that one set of those offences has entered guilty pleas to in Scotland and the further set of offending has indicated pleas of guilty.’
To this day he has refused to hand over the passwords or pin numbers to the mobile phone, laptop and iPad seized at the scene.
Sir Lyndsay Hoyle, who succeeded Mr Bercow as Speaker of the House, said the level of abuse targeted at politians has increased since the murder of MP Jo Cox.
In a statement read to the court he said: ‘From speaking to members the cumulative effect is to erode confidence and generate fear.
‘Democracy is at risk if MPs fear results or change the way they debate or vote in the house, if MP’s staff are fearful they cannot support constituents in the way they would like to.’
Sir Lyndsay said a survey of 123 MPs showed many had a heightened sense of fear at public events and felt they were less free to ‘walk around’.
‘It has become more poignant in 2020 with Brexit negotiations, social media and the Covid pandemic,’ he added.
‘Those responsible should feel the full force of the law, at the appropriate level.’
Mr Corbyn received a message saying ‘You should be hung for treason you f–king terrorist’ on 22 March 2019.
A week later then Speaker of the House, Mr Bercow received an email saying ‘1 in 17 million is bad odds for some nutter to pull a Jo Cox on you and your staff’.
On 1 April former Home Secretary Amber Rudd received an email saying: ‘You better be very f–king careful how you core [sic] this week,’ and on 15 May an email saying ‘You are definitely going to be assassinated’.
He emailed Welsh politician April Adam Price on 6 April saying ‘You deserve to get shot in the face you pr-ck’.
On 6 May an email was allegedly sent to former Labour MP Chuka Umunna, saying ‘You have been warned… shut your f–king mouth boy’ and on 23 July ”If you kill brexit… [w]e will kill you and your entire family’.
Mr Umunna received another saying ‘You need to be shot in the face,’ on 5 August, the court heard.
On 13 May an email to then Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson which said: ‘You deserve to be f–king hung,’ and on 3 August an email asked her whether she was ‘trying to get shot’.
On 30 May an email to Mr Bercow allegedly said ‘don’t f–k with Brexit” and on 1 June ‘I’m going to milkshake you you prick’.
Mr Bercow is said to have received another email on 13 June saying ‘Don’t f–k with democracy,’ and on 25 June an email was sent with the subject “#jocox” followed by ‘If you thwart Brexit we will decapitate you’ on 5 August.
On the same day former Tory Minister Rory Stewart received an email saying ‘You need to be shot in the face’ and ‘If you block Brexit… you like likely [sic] be assassinated’.
On 16 June Mr Stewart received another email saying: ‘You know what we do with spies’.
On 26 June SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford allegedly received an email with gun symbols saying ‘I hope you die,’ and a second saying ‘I dare you to come to the pub in Westminster and say some of the sh*t you do in the house’.
On the same day he is accused of sending The House of Lords an email saying: ‘You have been warned,’ and another to Jeremy Corbyn saying ‘Murdering you would be fully justified’.
On 10 July MP Dominic Grieve allegedly received an email saying ‘Don’t f-ck with brexit… [u]nless you want your entire life destroyed’.
Ritchie is also accused of sending an email on 25 July to Lib Dem MP Tom Brake saying ‘watch your words old man’.
On 1 August Lib Dem politician Phillip Lee received an email saying ‘If you bring down the government you will be murdered and your family will never be safe’.
The next day Lib Dem Edward Davey received an email saying ‘If you stop brexit we will kill you and your entire family’.
The final email was allegedly sent to the prominent Tory remainer Dominic Grieve on 6 August saying ‘If you stop brexit we will decapitate you,’ and ‘It all just depends if you want to treat the public with the same contempt… You are a dead man either way”.
The charges accused him of sending threatening messages ‘for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom you intended that it or its contents or nature should be communicated’ under the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
Emma Fenn, defending, said: ‘The heart of my submission is that strong candidate for a suspended sentence given his personal circumstances and mental health backgrounds.
‘I don’t seek to detract from his genuine remorse and shame from the contents of these messages.
‘This is somebody who was unravelling and continued to unravel over that period of time.
‘Certainly his letter reflects the deep remorse about what he sent has had on others.
‘The pre-sentence report captures well his early life, the difficulties of that I don’t repeat here, and his more recent mental health challenges.
‘It doesn’t perhaps reflect the gravity, on a number of occasions been a missing person, there have been recent attempts on his life and suicidal ideation continues today.’
Ms Fenn asked for sentence to be adjourned for further research into Ritchie’s mental health treatment to be prepared, suggesting that treatment could run alongside probation supervision if his sentence was suspended.
‘He is a businessman and educated man who is really struggling,’ she added.
‘The negative impact on his mental health during a period of imprisonment would be of significant risk to him and delay any prospect of rehabilitation.’
Judge Adam Hiddleston agreed to adjourn sentencing for a report to be prepared by the Scottish mental health services.
He said: ‘There is no suggestion in anything I have read and correct if wrong about this, I can’t see any suggestion that he did what did because of mental health difficulties, there is nothing there that suggests that was the cause of what he did.
‘He was moderately or severely depressed at the time, was drinking to excess and abusing illegal drugs.’
Adjourning sentence until 18 June, the judge told Ritchie: ‘I know what you came here today expecting to be dealt with, but matters have been raised in mitigation on your behalf in respect of a very recent mental health assessment.’
Ritchie, of West Mill Road, West Linton, admitted 28 charges of sending an electronic communication conveying a threatening message.
He was bailed ahead of sentencing on 18 June.
