A man has been found guilty of threatening a Labor MP after holding a makeshift gallows with a noose in front of parliament and saying, “This is what we do with traitors.”
Lance O’Connor, 57, called out Hove MP Peter Kyle as he walked through Parliament Square in central London on October 20 last year, according to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
At the trial, it was said that O’Connor then pointed to a set of 6-foot gallows before calling the threat.
Kyle, 51, a former charity chief executive, was elected to parliament in 2015 and served as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
O’Connor of Playstow, East London, appeared in court with a wooden cane in the shape of a gallows with a small noose attached.
Lance O’Connor holds a makeshift gallows with a noose in front of Parliament. Photo: Peter Kyle / PA
He said he built the gallows in protest of the “draconian” blockade measures and to remind the government that “betrayal is still punishable by the gallows,” although he denied targeting or shouting anything against Kyle.
District Judge Nita Minhas found O’Connor guilty of causing Kyle harassment, anxiety or suffering after a brief trial.
She gave O’Connor parole for 12 months, which means he must not commit another crime within that period, and ordered him to pay £ 660, including Kyle’s £ 200.
O’Connor said he would appeal the decision and was heard muttering a “complete parody” when he left court.
During the trial, Kyle told the court that he felt “cold” and “threatened” by the incident, which occurred less than a week after the assassination of Conservative MP Sir David Ames.
He said he was returning to parliament from a luncheon hearing when he heard his name called “with an angry shout”.
“I looked briefly at what I saw and then walked away, but then, as I continued, I turned to look again because I couldn’t believe what I saw,” he said. “I saw a man standing there holding a gallows with a noose in Parliament Square.
“The word ‘traitor’ was used, and then when I looked across the road again, a man said, ‘That’s what we do with traitors.'”
Kyle said he saw the man pointing up at the noose. He also took a picture of the scene, which he later posted on Twitter and which was shown in court.
He said he had returned to his office after the incident because he considered the man’s actions “a direct threat to me and a direct threat to other members of parliament”.
He added that after Ames’ death, there was “a chilling atmosphere around Westminster, so it was horrifying to see that.”
The court heard that another man, Stephen Tyler, who was on his way to another protest, approached the defendant when he saw the gallows and asked, “What is this for?”
“He said, ‘All these fuckers inside,’ and pointed to parliament,” Tiller told the court.
Asked by Martin Smith, a defense attorney, Kyle said he did not speak to the defendant during the meeting because security services told lawmakers not to engage with threatening protesters.
Asked if he knew for sure that the defendant had caused the threat, Kyle said: “As far as I know. I’m pretty sure the man pointing to the gallows, whose mouth was moving.
O’Connor told the court he did not know Kyle was an MP, and said Kyle approached him and asked, “Do you think that’s appropriate?”
“I pointed to the other side of the road to the Palace of Westminster and said, ‘What I think is inappropriate are the draconian measures that the people in Parliament have taken,’ O’Connor said.
Add Comment