Brexiteer who harassed Anna Soubry jailed

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A Brexiteer who repeatedly harassed Anna Soubry before standing against her in the general election has been jailed for 28 days.

Amy Dalla Mura targeted Soubry between January and March this year, turning up at events and calling her a “traitor” on live television, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

Former MP Soubry, a Remainer who lost her Broxtowe seat while standing for the Independent Group for Change, said she was left “frightened” following the incidents.

Dalla Mura, from Hove, claimed that her behaviour was politically motivated debate and did not accept it was frightening, despite standing in the general election in the same constituency as Soubry.

Brexit
Anna Soubry was left distressed by Dalla Mura’s harassment (Yui Mok/PA)

There were shouts of “democracy is dead” and “shame on you” from Dalla Mura and a packed public gallery when Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot gave her sentencing remarks on Monday.

Read on...

“Ever since the murder of Jo Cox, MPs no longer feel able to put up with sustained intimidation,” she said.

“You showed an obsession and fixation with Ms Soubry which has led you to bullying and intimidating, and harassing, this now-ex MP for Broxtowe.”

Judge Arbuthnot told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the actions “stop ordinary, decent people” becoming MPs.

“This damages our democracy. Because who wants to put up with this sort of harassment?” she added.

Ahead of the sentencing, Judge Arbuthnot questioned why Dalla Mura had chosen to stand in Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, just days after Soubry told the trial she feared for her safety following the defendant’s actions.

“It was hard to see how (Dalla Mura) couldn’t have understood it was frightening,” Judge Arbuthnot said.

“Your client then stood against her in Broxtowe. That was the most serious point, that someone had been fixated not with Brexit but with Soubry.

“Most people go and wave flags and shout. They don’t intimidate people right in their faces.”

She added: “Anyone with any sense would say it’s not a good time. I don’t mind standing in Hove but certainly not in Broxtowe.”

Soubry, who became a target for Brexiteers after quitting the Tory party earlier this year, lost her seat to Conservative candidate Darren Henry after coming third in the general election, receiving some 4,668 votes.

Dalla Mura stood for the English Democrats and received 432 votes.

On January 23, Dalla Mura disrupted an event where Soubry was speaking, repeatedly interrupting her and live streaming the event on Facebook.

Dalla Mura had to be escorted from the premises – the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in central London – before the event could continue.

A second incident involved the Dalla Mura branding Soubry a “traitor” as she gave a live television interview to BBC’s Newsnight in Parliament’s Central Lobby, while once again using her mobile phone to video her.

The defendant was asked to stop filming in the premises, as it is not permitted, and left after police officers attended the incident on 14 March.

A week later, on 22 March, Dalla Mura tried to intercept the MP outside the Cabinet Office in Westminster saying she wanted to “have a word”, but did not manage to find her.

Dalla Mura, who denied harassment but was found guilty following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, is banned from contacting Soubry under a three-year restraining order.

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  • Show Comments
    1. When politicians lie to the electorate it is a bad thing, but when politicians continually lie to the Electorate that is an evil thing, because those lies lead to pain, suffering and death at scale.

      It is no surprise to me that there are people who are so hurt and damaged by politicians continual lies, that they wish to make those politicians suffer too. The idea that the public is too afraid to become MP’s due to fear of the public is laughable, and is in fact yet another lying manipulative political attempt by the political classes, to further insulate themselves against the backlash of their evil behaviour, which they do deserve.

      They deserve it because they go around causing massive harm to our citizens and our Country with their ingrained dishonesty, so much so in recent years, that it has cost the lives of thousands of innocent Britons (and that’s only Britons, the death-toll and suffering index is much higher for those outside the lamentable protections our society affords to us.

      The murder of Jo Cox has been deliberately used to drive an even greater wedge between politicians and the citizenry, a wedge politicians are willingly using to enable even greater acts of dishonesty against us, our Country, and our Laws. Politicians who lie, manipulate and cheat the electorate ARE treasonous, and extremely dangerous to us all, as the lies they force through and force us to swallow, are extremely damaging and terrorising.

      Politicians who lie and deceive the electorate SHOULD fear for their lives, much in the same way as we fear for ours should we try to lie to Police officers, or officers and agents of the Law and Crown. If we lie to authority, we are punished for it, even to death in some cases (Julian Assange will likely die due to Political Lies and machinations of a very evil type, others have already gone that way in our history).

      Why should politicians (who are after all just citizens with greater political aspirations) be allowed to create division, animosity, and hatred within our nation, and even worse than that, do actual harm to us and our nation, be allowed to do things which are clearly detrimental to us, our nation, and our democracy (and do bear in mind that what these twats decide can end up killing all of us)?.

      If politicians don’t behave honestly, and with the best interests of us and the nation at heart, they must absolutely expect to be prosecuted and jailed, but if the legal system keeps letting them get away with their crimes against us and the country, they MUST expect to be overthrown, beaten, tortured even, or killed. Without those mechanisms and threats to their safety, they cannot and will not behave in a manner befitting Civilized Society, or even Humanity.

      If our Legal system wasn’t so corrupt, if it actually jailed people like Boris Johnson (and many deserving others) for their dishonesty, then we would not need the threat of a public backlash or revolution. The very fact that these concepts exist, is proof that not only have these things been necessary in the past, they are most certainly necessary now and in the future.

      Do you job properly Legal fools, stop protecting the criminal classes or you too will pay for your dishonesty with your own lives. That’s not a threat, but a prediction based on the proof that history contextually provides. People will only take so much, and then heads will roll, and it won’t be pretty.

    2. Mr Corbyn has to be considered the most harassed politician in history – harassed by other politicians, religious figures, newspaper magnates and many other relentless harassers. In that regard a whole host of individuals too many to name that should be collared and slammed-up for twenty-eight days.

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