Man who accused Andy Burnham of ‘protecting paedophiles’ threatened to bomb Greater Manchester Police HQ and town hall, court hears
A bomb hoaxer who accused Andy Burnham of “protecting pedophiles” claimed he would target the town hall and sent threats to professionals including two MPs, a court heard.
Anthony McGrath, 57, made a post on social media site X in November 2025 threatening to bomb Greater Manchester Police Station if property belonging to him was not returned, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday.
He claimed the bombs would come from Russia and added: “Stop protecting #pedophiles @AndyBurnhamGM because city hall will be taken down too.”
The court heard McGrath sent a series of threatening emails in January and February 2024 to professionals including Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey and Sir Robert Buckland, then MP for South Swindon, as well as a judge, barrister, chartered surveyor and Nat West bank.
McGrath, of Sale, Greater Manchester, was given a community order after the court heard he was suffering from mental health problems at the time and was sectioned following his arrest.
In an email to Ms Long-Bailey, prosecutor Martyn Walsh, McGrath said: “You have all messed with the wrong person. My army is much larger considering I have Russian and Chinese support. We will arm ourselves and shoot to kill.”
In another message, he told the Labor Party MP “you are the target” and gave the time when his office would explode.
Mr Walsh told the court: “Ms Long-Bailey said the incident ‘made me concerned for the safety of my staff and myself’.”
McGrath had sent an e-mail to Sir Robert, who served as a minister in Conservative governments, about the “car bomb” issue, and cited a moment when the politician said his house was “going to explode”.
In an email to district judge Jacqueline White, he said: “We have every judge’s home address and we also have prides of lions.”
The man emailed Greater Manchester Jewish Deputies Council member Laurie Burnley-Myers claiming he had been given a “bomb alert from the IRA”, the court heard.
Lucy Moran, defending, said: “I submit that there is no real risk of this happening again. He is now being cared for, given medication and is doing well.”
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “All of these offenses occurred at a time when, on the information before me, you were experiencing deteriorating mental health. If that had not been the case, the sentence in this case would have been completely different.”
He ordered McGrath to comply with a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement and complete a 12-month mental health treatment requirement as part of a 15-month community order.
McGrath pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 12 counts of sending an offensive/indecent/obscene/threatening message over a communications and public communications network that threatened death or serious harm.
He was also subject to restraining orders preventing him from contacting people he emailed for seven years.
