Slough man Wajid Shah who threatened to kill politicians jailed

Published42 minutes ago

A man who threatened to kill Theresa May while she was prime minister has been jailed.

Wajid Shah emailed Mrs May with the threat and sent similar messages to ex-home secretary Lord Blunkett, Baroness Lister, MPs Tan Dhesi and Caroline Noakes, and former MP Mark Lancaster.

He was sentenced to two years in jail, after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Barry McElduff, Mrs May said the "extremely offensive, threatening and disturbing" message to her left her "feeling anxious and concerned".

She explained she had received abusive messages before, but "what made this one different was the explicit and repeated threat to kill me".

"The fact it came close to my constituency raised me concern," she said.

Shah, of Connaught Road, Slough, had denied six counts of sending a letter/communication or article conveying a threatening message

The court heard he sent emails to the politicians that contained racial slurs and threats to kill them "with a gun or a knife".

In messages to his local MP Mr Dhesi and former armed forces minister Lord Lancaster, Shah said he would chop their heads off, which led to Mr Dhesi being advised by police to leave his constituency office.

Mr McElduff said the email to Ms Noakes, a former immigration minister, "weighed heavy on her mind" and she "drew comparisons... with the events that led to the tragic death of Jo Cox MP".

Shah sent Lord Blunkett two emails and abused him for being blind, the prosecutor added.

Judge Philip Bartle QC told the court the defendant's "motivation" for sending the emails to the politicians was to assist his mother with "immigration matters" and the "UK citizens' test".

He said the defendant had "chose the recipients carefully" through their links through previous or current immigration work.

The judge said Shah sent the emails under different names, including that of his father, to "get back" at him following a family dispute.

He added Shah maintained he was innocent, had a "very low IQ and severe learning difficulties", but did not suffer from mental health problems.