According to major media reports, Mark Tew sent a barrage of messages to Sir Keir Starmer that were full of abusive profanities and threats of violence, including calling the Prime Minister a 'gutless dirty bastard'. He targeted several barristers between March and November 2021. Tew was found guilty of seven counts of sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, and denied and was cleared of an additional count relating to former Home Secretary Priti Patel.
He also admitted six counts of failure to surrender to court. The emails were not read by the MPs themselves but were intercepted by their staff. Tew received a sentence of 17 months in prison, suspended for two years, and four months of curfew monitored by an electric tag.
He was given a restraining order forbidding him from contacting the Prime Minister, three barristers, another MP, and a Lord. Sahil Sinha, prosecuting, said Tew had a 'clear awareness of his wrongdoing' and that the messages caused harm to employees and society, potentially discouraging others from public office. Stella Harris, defending, said Tew accepted responsibility, citing poor physical and mental health, including anxiety and a persecutory personality disorder, and noted he had cut back on drinking.
The judge, Mr Justice Murray, accepted Tew's autistic traits may have affected his understanding, but said the eight emails in question were criminal due to offensive or threatening content, made more serious by timing after MP David Amess's murder.