Cult members who plotted to kidnap and falsely imprison a coroner they accused of “necromancy” have been jailed.
Senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes, who was not at the coroner’s court in Chelmsford at the time, said he regularly has nightmares about the incident, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
The defendants had turned up at the court with a set of handcuffs on 20 April last year, entered a room where another coroner was conducting documentary inquests, demanded to know where Mr Brookes was and said they were shutting down the court.
Passing sentence on Monday, the judge said the “frightening” plot involved a “significant degree of planning and preparation” and left the victims psychologically affected after suffering “considerable fear”.
Mr Justice James Goss said all four defendants were members of a group called the Federal Postal Court, or the Court for the People, which had “self-conferred” powers.
“Manipulative” Mark Christopher, 59, was described as the “self-appointed leader” who went by the title of Chief Judge of England and All Dominions.
Matthew Martin, 47, was a sheriff and coroner, Sean Harper, 38, was a sheriff and his wife Shiza Harper, 45, was a postal inspector for the group, the judge said, with all three “qualified by” Christopher.
The judge said Christopher “lay at the very heart of these offences” and recruited his co-defendants as he jailed him for seven years.
He said Martin, Harper and Harper “were prepared to commit offences while doing his bidding”, and jailed them for 30 months each.
Essex area coroner Michelle Brown – who had been conducting inquests from paperwork and without witnesses or family present – told an earlier trial that the group came into her courtroom.
She said that the leader, Christopher, “kept demanding that I find and get Mr Brookes”.
Mr Brookes told the earlier trial that he received a series of “very bizarre” letters in 2022 before receiving emails in April 2023 stating that “corporal punishment may be administered”.
He described the emails, which claimed to be warrants “for seizure of goods and persons”, as “troubling” and “upsetting”.
Mr Brookes said that in an attachment to an email he was accused of “detrimental necromancy”.
He said, in a victim impact statement read out in court by prosecutor Allister Walker on Monday: “I regularly have nightmares about the incident and the suspects attending my home.”
Mr Brookes said he has had “initial trauma therapy” and is now “hyper vigilant about the safety of my family and myself”.
He said he had been driving to the court, having accompanied a family member to a hospital appointment that morning, when he received a call about what had happened and he turned around.
Mr Brookes said he was warned not to come to the building and was told “these are the people from the letter – they’re coming to get you”.
He said he suffers “flashbacks of the journey home” and at the time “was wondering if the cars around me were following me or trying to beat me to my house”.
Ms Brown told the court on Monday “I do believe I will never feel safe”, adding: “I wake up at night thinking I can hear someone trying to get in, then I sit up all night.”
Christopher, of Forest Gate, east London, Martin, of Plaistow, east London, Shiza Harper and Sean Harper, both of South Benfleet, Essex, all denied conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, but were all found guilty on both counts following a two-week trial.
Christopher was also found guilty of sending threatening letters to Mr Brookes with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
The judge jailed all four, ordered each to pay a £228 surcharge and subjected each to a restraining order, barring them from entering any courthouse in England and Wales without a prior appointment and blocking them from contacting Mr Brookes or Ms Brown.
Addressing Christopher, the judge said: “I am satisfied that you are intelligent, persuasive, manipulative and dishonest.
“Your group, of which you are the self-appointed leader, preys upon the vulnerabilities of others – particularly those in financial difficulties, whom you persuade to pay you considerable amounts of money and do your bidding.”
He noted that when he offered Christopher the opportunity to speak in court, Christopher “appeared to understand but averted (his) eyes as soon as I started speaking” and remained silent.
Mr Walker said Christopher “refused to engage in proceedings throughout”.
Martin, who represented himself, said he was “here to save younglings” and “we find younglings tied up in places like underneath Asda supermarkets”.
Narita Bahra KC, for Sean and Shiza Harper, said the couple had been “in thrall” of Christopher and had been “indoctrinated to believe (he) was a judge who had the power to serve warrants”.
She said they were at the start of “what I will call an awakening”.
As the group were led to the cells, Martin faced the public gallery and said “you know what to do, tell them I love them ok” as a woman wept and left the courtroom.
Detective Chief Inspector Nathan Hutchinson, of Essex Police, said afterwards: “Whilst we appreciate freedom of opinion, this group’s ideologies are nothing more than nonsensical intimidation and oppression with no regard for the law.
“Christopher told the group that they could take control of an active court, make arrests, and threaten public servants who were just trying to do their job supporting the people of Essex.”
He commended the “bravery” of Ms Brown and her staff present in the court, and that of Mr Brookes who was the “target of this terrible plot”.
