A pensioner who sent Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, a ‘vile and abusive email’ has been fined £700 – after she was forced to appeal a decision not to prosecute.
David Perry, 66, sent the “highly offensive” message to the 43-year-old MP, in which he called her “an ugly menopausal pig”.
The prosecution was triggered by Ms Rayner’s request for a victim’s right to review (VRR) after an initial decision was taken not to prosecute the pensioner.
The email, sent from Perry’s account, made crude and offensive references to Ms Rayner’s appearance and said she was a “puppet of the industrial military complex”.
It also referenced a Mail on Sunday article suggesting Ms Rayner had crossed and uncrossed her legs to distract Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions.
It said: “Please get off the news channels and go get a job in a fish factory.”
The email also stated: “Do you really think anybody would be interested in an ugly menopausal pig like you?”
Perry went on to make derogatory comments about Ms Rayner’s anatomy and breanded her a “typical career politician”.
In a victim personal statement, Ms Rayner said the message had left her “appalled at the level of repugnant malice”.
She also asked why anyone would think it was acceptable to send such offensive words to a woman.
The email, sent to the constituency mailbox of Ms Rayner, was traced back to Perry and he was arrested by Greater Manchester Police in July 2022.
When interviewed by police, Perry accepted that the email address was his but denied sending the email and instead claimed he had been hacked.
However, he was unable to produce any evidence to back up claims that his Wi-Fi or IT systems had been hacked by a third party.
Perry, of Weybridge, Surrey, previously pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court to a charge of sending grossly offensive communication to the MP.
He was fined £700 and ordered to pay £300 in costs at Staines Magistrates’ Court on December 28.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, described Perry’s email as “completely unacceptable”.
She said: “Perry’s email was highly offensive and insulting to Ms Rayner, and his comments have no place in a civilised society.
“Neither she nor her constituency staff should have to be subjected to such vitriol – it is completely unacceptable.
“The public should know that they cannot simply send such grossly offensive communications without repercussions.
“Online communications can be traced and people breaking the law will be brought to justice.”
