GAVIN BARWELL, JUNE 3 2016

Gavin Barwell, the MP for Croydon Central between 2010 and 2017, was attacked in his constituency office.

After the police were called it was discovered that the man was carrying a knife.

In an email sent to his constituents he wrote: “On Friday, a constituent came to see me on the pretext of having a valid piece of casework for us to take up. This proved not to be the case and he refused to leave when asked, became verbally aggressive, used racially abusive language and threatened to kill me in front of my staff. He was subsequently arrested and found to be in possession of a knife.”

After the incident Mr Barwell said he had “reluctantly” taken police advice to keep the office locked.

He said: “I always wanted to be as accessible as possible, but clearly my first duty is to ensure the safety of the people I employ.”