Former Labour MPClaudia Webbe has lost a bid to overturn her conviction for an 18-month harassment campaign against a woman who was having sex with her boyfriend.
The MP for Leicester East, 57, threatened to disclose naked pictures of Michelle Merritt to her family after discovering or suspecting the affair.
Webbe, who was expelled from Labour after her conviction last November, made a string of silent phone calls to Ms Merritt, in a course of conduct that amounted to harassment.
The MP continued to deny the allegations after she was found guilty in the magistrates court, and she mounted a three-day appeal at Southwark crown court.
But Judge Deborah Taylor, sitting with two magistrates, dismissed the challenge on Thursday.
However the court downgraded the MP’s sentence, of a 10-week suspended prison term, to a low-level community order with 80 hours of community service.
The MP – a Corbyn loyalist who is currently sitting as an Independent – had delayed talk of her political future until after the appeal, and will now face intense political pressure to quit her seat and spark a by-election.
The appeal court did, however, overturn a finding that Webbe had made a threat to attack Ms Merritt with acid, concluding this may have been a misunderstanding.
Webbe was accused by prosecutors of being driven by “obsession” and “jealousy” over her boyfriend Lester Thomas’s relationship with Ms Merritt.
Mr Thomas, a consultant at Crossrail, football coach, and scout for Chelsea, had shared sexually-charged text messages with Ms Merritt, who admitted the affair between March 2017 and July 2020 during her evidence to the appeal.
“Mr Thomas and I talked about sex a lot,” she said. “Other people would talk about fashion, we would talk about sex.
“May I also add I’m single, not him, and I have done nothing illegal.”
Webbe’s harassment campaign began with silent phone calls in September 2018 then “escalated” on March 31, Mother’s Day, the following year when the MP questioned why Ms Merritt was in touch with her boyfriend.
Judge Taylor said Ms Merritt had lied during the course of criminal proceedings about her affair with Mr Thomas, but this did not undermine her central allegation of harassment.
“We find that although Michelle Merritt was an unsatisfactory witness who told lies about the nature of her relationship with Leslie Thomas at each stage of the process until the downloads from her phone made the relationship clear, in other respects we accept her evidence”, she said.
“We don’t find the description of the relationship as ‘just friends’ as truthful. For most of the time, Michelle Merritt and Leslie Thomas was having a sexual relationship.”
But Judge Taylor added: “We are sure Claudia Webbe made silent calls to Michelle Merritt prior to October 11, 2018.
“On Mother’s Day Claudia Webbe called Michelle Merritt and in the court of the call threatened to sent naked pictures of her to her daughter.”
In her evidence, Ms Merritt said Webbe told her: “Friends don’t send friends pictures of their tits and pussy. You’re a slag and should be acid.”
Judge Taylor said the phrase “should be acid” is “peculiar” and may have been misheard or misunderstood by Ms Merritt.
“We are not sure acid was mentioned during the call”, she said. “Claudia Webbe didn’t make a threat to throw acid over her.”
The court heard Ms Merritt reported Webbe to police but received 17 further phone calls lasting 14 seconds or less from the MP, even though she had been warned to stop.
Judge Taylor said Webbe’s claim that she had not heard or understood the police instruction, blaming background noise on the call was not credible.
In one phone call recorded by Ms Merritt on April 25, 2020, Webbe is heard saying: “I have seen all of your naked pictures. Get out of my relationship otherwise I will tell your whole family and show them all of your pictures.”
Webbe had statements of support about her character from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, and Diane Abbott.
Imposing a fresh sentence, Judge Taylor took into account that Webbe had been under stress at the time, exacerbated towards the end of the harassment campaign by concerns that Covid lockdown rules were being broken which could compromise her health and political career.
She added: “New evidence sheds new light on the nature and extent of your offending”, quashing the suspended prison sentence and replacing it with a 12-month community order with 80 hours of community service.
Webbe has already carried out 150 hours of the 200 hours of community service she was originally ordered to complete, meaning that part of the punishment has been served.
She was originally told to pay £1000 in compensation to Ms Merritt, but that was reduced today to just £50.
In a statement after losing the appeal, Webbe said: “I am deeply shocked by today’s outcome.“As I said in court and repeat now, I have never threatened violence nor would I.”
She said: “I was deeply frustrated that my partner and Michelle Merritt had been socialising in the middle of the covid pandemic, contrary to the rules and all health advice. I was frightened and frustrated by his behaviour.”
The court heard Webbe has suffered online racist abuse since her conviction.
