An army veteran who left a Tory MP fearing for her safety after posting a ‘menacing and aggressive’ video rant on Facebook about the state of fly tipping in his area has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Steven Parkins, 49, targeted Holly Mumby-Croft with an eight-minute tirade in which he addressed her polite and reasonable email response to his concerns – ending it with ‘Come at me, you fat f***.’ The Scunthorpe MP said she felt ‘sick to her stomach’ after watching the aggressive recording, which was filled with expletives.
He also sent her emails and made several Facebook posts in April this year in which he stressed his military background, saying she should ‘get ready for war’, that he was ‘trained to be the best’ and added ‘push me I wouldn’t.’ In a statement the former MP, who lost her seat in the general election, said the messages from Parkins left her ‘frightened, losing sleep and worried for my safety.’
She had to be accompanied by a protection officer to a public armed forces event that Parkins also attended whilst on bail and showed her family photos of him in case he came to her door, the court heard.
Parkins was originally charged with stalking that put her in fear of violence.
However, his guilty plea to an alternative charge of sending an electronic communication that was grossly offensive, indecent or obscene in character, was accepted on the day his trial was to start last month.
Jailing him today at Bradford Magistrates Court District Judge Tan Ikram refused to accept his level of remorse given his long criminal history and the fact he was on a community order at the time of this offence.
Addressing Parkins he said: ‘It is one of the most menacing and aggressive videos I’ve seen in a long time’ He said social media ‘seems to be a platform for something of a free for all in terms of abuse and threats.’
Steven Parkins, 49, (pictured) sent a foul-mouthed video message to his local MP
Local MP Holly Mumby-Croft (pictured) said the messages from Parkins left her ‘frightened, losing sleep and worried for my safety’
Council workers cleared tonnes of rubbish in a clean up in Crosby, blighted by mass fly-tipping
Mr Ikram said ‘public servants have a difficult job to do’ but they ‘may be thinking twice about whether they would take on these roles because of threats and acts of violence against them.’
Prosecutor Dan Lee said: ‘Holding politicians to account was important in a democratic society.’ But he said the messages from Parkins went ‘above and beyond that.’ ‘They were abusive, grossly offensive and against the law,’ he said.
The emails and video were sent to Ms Mumby-Croft, 39, in April this year when she was still an MP and focused on the problem of fly tipping in the Crosby area of Scunthorpe where he lived.
Mr Lee said one message from Parkins said the MP ‘should do well to remember’ he was a ‘very pissed off veteran.’ The court heard the MP sent Parkins a ‘polite and courteous reply’ in which she told her constituent clearing litter was a matter for the council, but did offer to help with the issue.
Parkins responded with a long video in which he commented on Ms Mumby-Croft’s email point by point, using the f-word on numerous occasions.
He told her to ‘stop making excuses’ and ‘taking the ****’ and was highly abusive.
Ms Mumby-Croft only went to police after Parkins sent a follow-up email in which he said that in the army ‘we are trained to be the best’ and that he was ‘very much able and capable, so push me I wouldn’t.’
Parkins, who sees himself a political poet, was arrested but said the video had been taken out of context and was meant to be witty,’ said Mr Lee.
The emails and video were sent to Ms Mumby-Croft in April this year when she was still an MP and focused on the problem of fly tipping in the Crosby area where he lived
Ian Durant, mitigating, said Parkins had acted from ‘sheer frustration at the state of his community.’ He said Parkins had been clearing up litter himself and ‘fighting what he sees as a blight on his community.’
The video message was an ‘absolute rant about what he saw as the intransigence of those in authority.’
He said Parkins accepts full responsibility and he feels ashamed and is full of remorse.
The court heard Parkins had 14 previous convictions for 24 offences dating back to 1995. They included cannabis possession, assault, affray, threatening and abusive behaviour, battery and criminal damage.
In her statement the MP said his messages caused her ‘upset, concern and anxiety’ and ‘continued to be on my mind.’ She said it would play a part in her decision on whether to run for elected office again. Ms Mumby-Croft lost her seat to the Labour candidate at the election in July.
Parkins apologised to the MP who was sat in the courtroom. He told her: ‘I would like to apologise for my behaviour. It was downright rudeness I showed you. That was not gentlemanly conduct, it was inexcusable.’
Holly Mumby-Croft was in court to see him jailed but did not wish to comment afterwards.
