Brexiteer jailed for ‘chilling’ Swinson baby threat
Court hears then Lib Dem leader stepped up security at child’s nursery after sick message
A BREXIT campaign worker was jailed yesterday for sending a “chilling” email to Jo Swinson threatening her young child.
Zac Damon, who worked for Vote Leave and UKIP as a political designer, left the then Lib Dem leader so terrified over her son’s safety she stepped up security at his nursery.
The 40-year-old sent emails to the former Scots MP calling her a “first class c**t” and warning the mum of two to “take extra care” of her boy.
Swinson, who received the emails during her four-and-a-half month tenure as Lib Dem leader, said she “felt sick” when she received the messages.
The former politician, 40, who stood down as the Lib Dem’s first female leader last December after losing her East Dunbartonshire seat at the general election, said in her personal role she was used to “shrugging off ” abuse but threats to her children were “past the line” of acceptability.
Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard that on September 9 last year Damon, from the city, sent Swinson an email which said: “You are utterly pathetic and a first class c**t.”
On September 25, he sent another email which read: “You might want to take extra care of that little son of yours, if not now when he begins school in the future.”
Swinson revealed she visited her child’s nursery to tell them about the threat and have security do a sweep of the site.
She added: “Receiving this was chilling, I felt sick. I was at work in Parliament at the time and all I wanted to do was hug my child close.
“I didn’t know if they were deliberately planning to target my child. Telling my mum and in-laws was really difficult because I knew how much they would worry.
“My husband describes the horrible feeling of looking over his shoulder when he was walking our child to nursery.
“I thought I was pretty used to the abuse I have received over the years but this was difficult.
“It strikes at the very heart of wanting to protect your children.”
Swinson admitted that t the murder of Labour MP P Jo Cox just days before the he Brexit referendum in 2016 16 had changed how she felt she should deal with abuse. use.
In a victim impact act statement, she added: “This incident affected me,, my husband and our wider family amily so much that I feel a line really must be drawn, that a threat to a child is such a long wayay past the line of what is acceptable. table.
“People have asked mee how I have dealt with trolling andnd abuse. Often this has been younger women who are thinking about getting further involved in activism, campaigning and public life.
“One of the reasons why this incident was so upsetting for me, and indeed remains so, is because it feels like part of a wider pattern of abusers and internet trolls seeking to stop elected people, and those seeking elected office, from doing their jobs and working for the greater good in public life. “I fear that many of the next generation look at the cost of standing up for what you believe in and conclude that silence is the safer path. I worry deeply about what this means for tthe future of our democracy.”
Damon admitted sending indecent or grossly offensive emails to cause distress dist or anxiety, having originally denied it.
Prosecutor Rhys Evans told the court: “Damon said he sent the th second email as he was genuinely worried about abo threats he saw online, but bby virtue of him changing his not guilty plea to guilty, he has abandoned that line of defence.”
District judge Tan Ikram told Damon: “This was a threat to a high-profile figure whose position on Brexit was clear and you were working on the other side.”
He added the threat “must be seen in the context of a politician seeing a colleague murdered”.
The judge sentenced Damon to 12 weeks in jail. He also gave Damon a two-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Swinson.
He added: “It can’t be said that you are a man who has shown regret. You were working for the Conservative, Brexit and UKIP parties, for their social media and posters. You knew the power of messaging because that’s the industry that you are in.
“It does not matter what point you were trying to make, it’s the profound impact that it had on the victims.
“It is in the context of the Brexit campaign being used and abused in the most obscene way to abuse people who don’t agree with what you say.” Simon Moger, defending, said Damon “wants to extend his apologies to Swinson and her family”. The judge refused to accept his suggestion it was impulsive behaviour.
On his “political and social media branding” website, Damon claims his clients include the Vote Leave 2016 referendum campaign and UKIP. The website’s disclaimer states: “I am not a member of or affiliated to any government or community organisation or political party.”
You might want to take extra care of that little son of yours ZAC DAMON IN EMAIL TO JO SWINSON