Man sent vicious emails to ministers over Covid
AMAN sent a series of loathsome emails to Welsh political leaders in which he told them he hoped they got cancer and threatened them with violence.
Matthew Thomas sent the messages to First Minister Mark Drakeford and Economy Minister Vaughan Gething to take issue with the Welsh Government’s lockdown measures to combat the Covid pandemic, and made threats to kill and “bathe in their blood”.
He repeatedly referred to them as fascists and Nazis, as well as comparing them to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and demanded they lift lockdown measures, while also making homophobic and racial insults.
Swansea Magistrates’ Court was told Thomas, of Barn Road in Carmarthen, first sent a series of messages to Mr Gething between September and November last year.
Prosecuting, Lisa Jones said the 43-year-old had sent the messages to public email addresses for each of the politicians which could be easily found online. The court was told the emails were monitored by office staff, who had flagged up the messages to Mr Gething due to their serious
nature.
One, sent on November 29, read: “You have no right to take mine and others civil liberties away. You will pay for this you bit of ****, that I promise. I hope you get cancer this Christmas.”
Thomas had also sent a series of emails on a single day, September 16.
The first read: “Please, please resign. You are all fascist Nazis ruining people’s lives. More people die from bicycling accidents than this stupid Covid-19. You are destroying lives. People are losing jobs and livelihoods. Stop this muzzle-wearing nonsense, scrap social distancing or we the public will remove you from office. You are now the more hated in Wales than Thatcher”.
Later that day he emailed Mr Gething’s office three more times. Then, on March 15 this year, he sent the following to the First Minister: “You have to end restrictions or I’ll murder you.” He then added more insults targeting Mr Drakeford’s family.
The court was told Mr Drakeford had been informed of the letter and police were contacted. In a statement read to the court the First Minister said it had forced him to stop cycling to work and take a car instead, due to fears for his safety, as well as take on extra security measures.
His statement also read: “It was obvious the person sending the emails knew my address and had the potential to access my family.
“I accept in public life you will sometimes receive abusive emails, however, is is not something I have ever got used to.”
The court was told Thomas had psychoaffective disorder, likely antisocial disorder, mental and behavioural disorder and social anxiety, and potential undiagnosed autism. He was also said to have stopped taking medication at the time he had been sending his messages, and had taken to drinking alcohol following the death of a friend.
Thomas had pleaded guilty to sending communications conveying a threatening message, and racially aggravated harassment.
Sentencing, district judge Stephen Harmes noted Thomas has significant mental health problems, and is undiagnosed but displays autistic behaviour.
For sending a threatening message to Mr Drakeford, Thomas was sentenced to six weeks’ custody, and for the harassment of Mr Gething he was sentenced to another six weeks, with a further two-week uplift for the racial element, to run consecutively, making a total of 14 weeks, suspended for two years.
He was also made subject to a restraining order, ordered to pay £85 costs, a £128 victim surcharge, and pay £250 compensation to both Mr Drakeford and Mr Gething.