Bomb hoaxer targeted Burnham, MPs and judges

A bomb hoaxer claimed he would target a town hall after accusing Andy Burnham of "protecting paedophiles", and sent threats to professionals including two MPs.

Anthony McGrath, 57, posted on X in November last year threatening to bomb Greater Manchester Police headquarters unless they returned property belonging to him, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

In 2024 he sent threatening emails to Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey and Sir Robert Buckland, who at the time was the MP for South Swindon.

McGrath, of Sale, Greater Manchester, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was sentenced to a 15-month community order, given a seven-year restraining order, and ordered to have mental health treatment.

The court heard McGrath had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act following his arrest.

Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, said that in one email sent to Long-Bailey, McGrath said: "You all messed with the wrong person. My army is much bigger considering I have Russian and Chinese support. We will be armed and shoot to kill."

In another message, he told the Labour MP "you are a target" and gave a time when her office would explode.

Walsh told the court: "Ms Long-Bailey said the incident 'made me feel worried about the safety of my staff and myself'."

McGrath sent an email with the subject "car bomb" to Sir Robert, who served as a minister in Conservative governments, and gave a time when he said the politician's house would "explode".

In an email to district judge Jacqueline White he said: "We have every judge's home address and we also have packs of lions."

He emailed Laurie Burnley-Myers, part of the Jewish Representative Council for Greater Manchester, alleging there was a "bomb alert from the IRA", the court heard.

Lucy Moran, defending, said: "It is my submission that there is no real risk of this happening again. He is now looked after, medicated and in remission for his conditions."

Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: "These offences all occurred, on the information before me, when you were suffering with a mental health relapse. If that wasn't the case, the sentence in this case would have been entirely different."

He ordered McGrath to carry out a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement and complete a 12-month mental health treatment requirement as part of his 15-month community order.

McGrath pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of sending a communication threatening death or serious harm and 12 counts of sending by public communications network an offensive/indecent/obscene/menacing message.

He was also made subject to restraining orders preventing him from communicating with the people he had sent emails to for seven years.

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