I’ll hit him with an axe – man in BBC star threat
AMAN sent threatening emails aimed at two BBC TV stars in which he threatened to carry out knife and axe attacks.
Kristofer Jean Pierre Groot, 35, sent five ‘expressive and violent’ emails aimed at BBC Breakfast presenters Louise Minchin and Dan Walker after a segment about cleaning on the show.
Groot, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, believed both presenters were directing their comments at him during the show on April 4.
In the sages Minchin’s nice for threatened sinister mesGroot said ‘neck looks slitting’ and to ‘smash (Walker) in the face with an axe and kill his family’ before making the terrifying pledge to ‘play the long game’ in enacting his revenge.
The emails were sent to eDigitalResearch, a company which runs surveys for the BBC.
At Macclesfield magistrates’ court, Groot, of Weller Close, Poynton, admitted the offence of sending communications of an offensive nature.
Debbie Byrne, prosecuting, said: “At 6.56am on April 4 eDigital, a company which carries out research for the BBC, were sent five email messages intended for Louise Minchin and Dan Walker.
“None of the messages reached the intended people but they caused concern. Police were called and traced the emails to the defendant’s address.
“The messages were expressive and violent in nature. The first said ‘that Louise’s neck looks nice for slitting’.
The next said ‘that copresenter Dan, I am going to smash him in the face with an axe and kill his family’, followed by ‘tell that Dan to meet me and I will f*** him up’, and ‘I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I knife him in the car park’.
“The final message was ‘I am going to going to get my own back and play the long game’.”
Hannah Kelly, defending Groot, said the defendant had not taken his medication during the period of offending.
She said: “These are unpleasant messages for anyone to receive.
“They related to a particular news items about cleaning on BBC Breakfast news.
“He genuinely believed that the presenters were directing their comments personally to him. Considering it was about cleaning goes to show he wasn’t in the best frame of mind. He is devastated and mortified by his behaviour.” Groot was bailed to appear for sentence at Chester Crown Court on October 18.