Man sentenced for racist emails to ex-Home Secretary

A businessman who sent "threatening and racist" emails to MP Suella Braverman has been handed a suspended prison term and five-year restraining order.

Jagjivan Ram, 65, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Malicious Communications Act at Birmingham Magistrates' Court and was ordered not to contact the former Home Secretary.

He sent emails on separate dates in June 2024 to Braverman, then the Conservative MP for Fareham and Waterlooville in Hampshire, which were "of an indecent or grossly offensive nature for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety" to the recipient.

Ram, from Waste Lane, Balsall Common, near Solihull, was also placed on electronic tag for 12 weeks and ordered to pay £239.

The defendant sent Braverman an email containing profane and threatening language, including a reference to her being "lynched".

He said she "destroyed what benefits Asians have done for the country."

Another email included numerous racial slurs against Braverman.

Ram said her views were "gullible and racist" and that "the majority of the party's supporters are racist" and he hated them.

Braverman later defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, switching parties in January.

The two messages left the former home secretary "very upset and disturbed" and scared to attend public speaking events.

Previously, the court heard how Ram had said he was "not aware in any detail why I was sending it... from a moral perspective, that's not me."

Ram was told he would have faced a custodial sentence if there had not been an 18-month delay in bringing his case to court.

District Judge David Wain said that while he acknowledged the defendant was going through a "difficult time", it did not justify his behaviour.

He added: "You have heard the effect that had on her.

"Members of Parliament are real people with families...not just people on television."

"Threats of that nature [not only] have an impact on the people who receive them but a broader effect on wider society."

Ram was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, while the restraining order is place until 3 August 2031.

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