Labour MP who threatened to throw acid over partner’s friend avoids jail

Claudia Webbe, who represents Leicester East, has been expelled from the party but continues to sit as an MP.

An MP who threatened to throw acid in the face of her partner’s friend has avoided prison.

Claudia Webbe was found guilty of launching a campaign of harassment against Michelle Merritt out of jealousy.

The 56-year-old then-Labour MP made a string of threatening phone calls between September 1 2018 and April 26 last year.

In one, Webbe called Ms Merritt ‘a slag’ and said she would send naked pictures and videos to her daughters.

In another call, Webbe repeatedly warned the victim to ‘get out of my relationship’ with partner Lester Thomas.

She was handed a suspended 10-week jail sentence and 200 hours’ community service at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Despite her conviction and expulsion from the Labour party, she has continued to sit as an independent MP.

Because the sentence is less than 12 months, Webbe does not automatically lose her seat but will be open to a recall petition.

A by-election will be triggered if 10% of her constituents sign a register calling for her to go, a process which can take around eight weeks.

However, the process would have to wait until the outcome of any appeal by Webbe against her conviction, an avenue she said she is pursuing.

Webbe, from Islington, north London, denied harassment, claiming she only made ‘courtesy calls’ to warn Ms Merritt not to breach coronavirus regulations by meeting Mr Thomas.

She was found guilty after a trial despite receiving character witnesses from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.

Reading her victim personal statement from behind a curtain in court to shield herself from the defendant, Ms Merritt said: ‘She (Webbe) has made me feel very vulnerable, in public, in my own home.

‘I was scared to go to my door. I had many sleepless nights. I would like to feel safe again.

‘Due to Ms Webbe’s position in government (sic), I don’t know what she is capable of.’

After the trial, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring described Webbe as ‘vague, incoherent and at times illogical’, adding ‘I find her to be untruthful’.

Sentencing her, he said: ‘You were jealous of the relationship between Lester Thomas and Michelle Merritt, and probably felt in some way threatened by it.’

He said Webbe ‘showed little remorse or contrition’ and would have been jailed immediately were it not for her previous good character.

In a statement following sentence, Webbe said: ‘I am very disappointed by the decision of the magistrate and want to strongly reiterate that I am innocent.

‘I am lodging an appeal and despite today’s sentence I fully expect the appeal to be granted and that, ultimately, it will be successful.’

Webbe is the second Leicester East MP in less than three years whose career has unraveled in disgrace.

She won the seat in 2019 after Keith Vaz, who had represented the constituency since 1987, stood aside.

Separate House of Commons investigations found he had bullied a member of staff, that it was ‘more likely than not that Mr Vaz has engaged in paid sexual activity’ and that he demonstrated an ‘apparent willingness to purchase controlled drugs for others’.

Mr Vaz, who challenged the bullying findings, said he had ‘retired’ from politics but remains chair of the local Labour party in the area, meaning he could play a role in selecting Labour’s candidate or even attempt a political comeback himself.

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