Shamed MP Claudia Webbe loses appeal over conviction for harassing love rival
26 May 2022, 14:49 | Updated: 26 May 2022, 15:29
Former Labour MP Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal against her conviction for harassing a love rival.
Webbe, who represents her Leicester East constituency as an independent after being expelled from the party, targeted Michelle Merritt, 59, between September 2018 and April 2020.
Prosecutors said the 18-month harassment campaign was driven by "obsession" and "jealousy" over her boyfriend Lester Thomas's relationship with executive assistant Ms Merritt.
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The victim told how Webbe branded her a "slag" who "should be acid" and threatened to reveal naked photographs to her family in a string of phone calls.
Webbe, a former adviser to the National Police Chiefs' Council on firearms, was found guilty of harassment by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring and handed a 10-week suspended jail sentence following a trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court last year.
On Thursday, following an appeal hearing at Southwark Crown Court, she was again found guilty by Judge Deborah Taylor and two magistrates.
