Westminster court hears man deny offensive email to Angela Rayner

At Westminster Magistrates today Tuesday, April 11, a court heard the defendant deny that he sent an offensive email to Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, 43.

The man, David Perry, 66, was summonsed to face two charges under the Communications Act, according to The Independent.

The case concerns an email which was received on May 3, 2022, by the labour representative for Ashton-under-Lyne.

The first charge accuses the email of being ‘grossly offensive’ and the second charge that it was ‘indecent, obscene or menacing’.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Perry denies sending the offensive message email and has told police he believes his computer was hacked.

David Perry was granted unconditional bail by the deputy chief magistrate ahead of the scheduled trial on November 16, also at the same court.

In 2021 another man, 36-year-old Benjamin Iliffe, from Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to malicious communications which had been sent to Angela Rayner.

In an email, Iliffe had threatened Rayner to ‘watch your back and your kids. You were easy to find btw. I already found your personal home address.’

Iliffe was given a 5-week jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 35 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £128 victim surcharge, and given a two-year restraining order not to contact Rayner directly or indirectly, not to mention her on social media, and not to visit her office in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

A 70-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of malicious emails, and just a day later, police arrested a 52-year-old Halifax man over alleged threats against Rayner.

The Labour politician cancelled her constituency surgeries amid concerns for her personal safety.

At the time a spokesperson for Ms Rayner issued a statement, ‘Abuse and threats of this nature don’t just have an impact on Angela but also on her family, her children and her staff, who are on the receiving end of these communications.’

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