A dentist who tweeted that an MP would be “stabbed, shot, beheaded” has been locked up in hospital.
Amit Kerai, 34, was handed the hospital order after he pleaded guilty to making the threat against Brent North’s Barry Gardiner in August 2022.
Kerai, of Crundale Avenue in Barnet, also admitted two charges of putting other people in fear of violence by harassment in abusive and threatening emails, tweets and telephone calls between 2019 and 2022.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Labour MP Mr Gardiner said he is aware MPs are increasingly being threatened and “two of my colleagues have been murdered in the course of their work”.
He added: “I consider the level of security offered to MPs to be lamentably poor.
“I refuse to allow these threats to reduce my accessibility to my constituents and I still hold surgeries and take public transport and attend other public meetings.
“But I feel that the job of being a Member of Parliament now places a much greater strain on my staff and family than when I began in Parliament 25 years ago.”
The defendant also sent an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety to call centre staff at the General Dental Council, two days before he contacted Mr Gardiner.
The court heard he had a grudge after being made subject to an interim suspension by the General Dental Council, which later was made permanent.
Fellow dentist Keith Percival, from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Dental Council, was also a victim of his hate campaign.
Mr Percival said in a victim impact statement that the hundreds of personal tweets sent by Kerai “occupied his daily thoughts”.
His daughter, Emily Vidovic, who had an administrative role for the same organisation, also received calls of a “threatening and sinister nature”.
Kerai also admitted charges of possessing cocaine and cannabis found during his arrest.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC said Kerai has been diagnosed with a “persistent delusional disorder” and sentenced him to a hospital order as well as a restraining order.
He said: “Over a four-year period you carried out what can only be described as a campaign of harassment.
“Not only was it deeply offensive, threatening, abusive and unpleasant, it also had a significant impact on all those affected by it.”
Kerai made “many baseless accusations” which included criminal activity and alleged the victims were “racists and fascists”, the judge added.
The harassment included making demands for money, defamation, intimidation, blackmail and coercion, the court heard.
Reporting by PA.
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