Man jailed after sending ‘menacing’ messages to Labour MP | UK news

A man who threatened to kill the Prime Minister and sent “threatening” messages to a Labor MP has been sentenced to 23 months in prison.

Cambridgeshire police said Lee White sent the messages to Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting in South London, over a four-day period between August 29 and September 1, 2024.

White, 52, was arrested at his home in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, on September 4 last year.

Police said the messages included racist abuse and threats to kill Keir Starmer and cabinet ministers.

In a police statement, White said he sent the emails as a “cover-up” for an aggravated burglary at a relative’s home, and that the messages got out of control because police were “bored.”

After being released on bail, White sent further messages to his probation officer between November 24 and November 26, 2024, threatening to kill everyone in the probation office with grenades and guns.

He added that he would blow up the Parkside police station in Cambridge.

Police said White pleaded guilty at Cambridge crown court to threatening communications, non-violent harassment and sending a communication containing an offensive message.

He was sentenced to 23 months in prison for these crimes on Tuesday.

He also admitted sending false communications with the intent to cause harm and received no separate punishment for that.

DC James Lewis, who is investigating, said: “The menacing and threatening messages Lee White sent to his MP and probation officer were extremely unpleasant and embarrassing, so I am glad he has been jailed.”

Allin-Khan has had to cancel face-to-face consultancy surgeries in the past due to safety fears after a different man allegedly hurled “sexist and racist slurs” at the MP and assaulted one of her staff.

In October 2023, the lawmaker temporarily canceled regular in-person meetings with constituents while a vetting was completed.