MP Claudia Webbe called woman ‘a slag’ and ‘threatened to send naked photo of her to her family’

An MP allegedly threatened to kill a woman’s family and release naked photos of her because she was jealous of her friendship with her partner, a court has heard.

Claudia Webbe, 56, also allegedly called 59-year-old Michelle Merritt ‘a slag’ during a campaign of harassment between September 1 2018 and April 26 last year.

In a recording played at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, Ms Webbe can also allegedly be heard screaming: ‘Get out of my relationship!’ before threatening Ms Merritt, telling her: ‘I will kill all of your family and I will show them all of your pictures.’ 

The court heard how Webbe, who sits in the Commons as an independent MP for Leicester East after being suspended by the Labour Party, was in a relationship with Lester Thomas at the time.

‘The reason for the harassment would appear to be the fact that Michelle Merritt was friends with Lester Thomas and this was an issue for the defendant Claudia Webbe,’ said prosecutor Susannah Stevens.

She said Webbe made a string of short silent phone calls from a withheld number to Ms Merritt, who told the court she had known Mr Thomas for more than 15 years and was ‘good friends’ with him, having previously dated.

But Webbe denied making the silent calls and threatening to throw acid on her or release her nude photos, telling the court: ‘I’ve spent my lifetime campaigning for the rights of women, challenging this kind of behaviour.

‘This is not something that’s in my character and it’s not something I would ever do.

‘Those terms, those words, are not my words.

‘I would never use such expletives, such derogatory terms about anther person let alone another woman.’

It came after Ms Merritt said she would often receive silent calls after meeting with Mr Thomas.

‘There was a pattern that whenever I had even met with Lester Thomas, if we had gone out for a drink or something, there would be a phone call,’ she said, giving evidence from behind a screen.

‘When you are being called and no one answers, it’s unnerving, especially as a woman who lives alone.’

Ms Stevens said the ‘harassment escalated in form’ on Mother’s Day, March 31 2019, when Webbe spoke to the alleged victim and asked about her relationship with Mr Thomas.

‘This appears to be the defendant’s obsession – the fact Ms Merritt would not stop seeing her partner,’ said the prosecutor.

‘The Crown say Claudia Webbe was in such a state during this call that not only did she query the nature of the contact and fail to accept that Michelle Merritt and Lester Thomas were just friends, she then went on to say, “She’s a slag”, and also, “Should be acid”.

‘The defendant further threatened Ms Merritt that naked photos and videos of her would be sent to Ms Merritt’s children.

‘Ms Merritt was, perhaps not surprisingly, caused considerable distress by this call. She was alarmed and concerned for her safety.’

The alleged victim said Webbe said she was ‘Lester’s girlfriend’ and then ‘really started shouting, “Why are you contacting Lester?”

‘She was very, very angry at me. It was loud,’ she said.

‘She then started calling me a slag and saying friends don’t send pictures of their t**s and p**** to other friends, and it culminated in, “You’re a slag and you should be acid.”

‘She confirmed she knew where I lived and would send pictures and videos to my daughters.’

The court heard that Ms Merritt reported the call to police and her employer and had to take taxis to work to feel safer. But despite being warned by officers in April 2019, Webbe allegedly made a total of 16 further calls to the complainant, including one on April 25 last year, which is the one Ms Merritt recorded.

Ms Stevens said Webbe repeatedly ordered Ms Merritt to ‘get out of my relationship’, adding: ‘She threatens to show naked photos that she supposedly has of Ms Merritt to her family.’

The court heard Webbe later accepted to police that she had called Ms Merritt but claimed she had said those words to Mr Thomas during the course of an argument in which officers were called.

But the prosecutor said: ‘The Crown say the argument was over the defendant’s unhappiness with her partner’s relationship with Ms Merritt and this jealousy caused her to threaten Ms Merritt and say deeply distressing things to her.’

She explained that Webbe told police she made the short calls in an effort to contact her partner but did not realise they were unwanted or would cause distress.

Webbe told the court today that she rang Ms Merritt on April 25 because her and Mr Thomas had ‘repeatedly breached lockdown’ rules by meeting up.   

She said she was arguing with Mr Lester when Ms Merritt called her back.   

Webbe told the court: ‘During the call I was having two conversations at once and I repeatedly told Michelle to get out of my relationship and by this I meant that she should not be relying upon Lester for support as they were not in a relationship.

‘I did not threaten to disclose photos of her – this was a comment directed at Lester because he had been physically violent and I was trying to get him off me.

‘Eventually he smashed my phone.

‘…I was so angry with Lester, he was not wanting to listen to me, he did not want to respect my role as an MP, he did not want to understand how serious Covid was.

‘People were dying in my constituency. I lost constituents to Covid, I lost a good friend to Covid, I just could not understand why Lester could not understand how serious this pandemic was and how important it was to abide by the rules.’

Her voice breaking, Webbe continued: ‘He was constantly rebuking me, ridiculing me, goading me, as though this is not something that is as serious as people make out and that he can do what he wants.

‘It was just a terrible situation and I wanted Michelle to understand and just try and help me. I just wanted her to stop engaging with him for the sake of the pandemic… I was just so angry with Lester.’ 

She added: ‘I felt no anger toward Michelle and I’m sorry for what that tape portrays because it’s not my finest moment but it wasn’t intended to cause Michelle any harm and it just is to me very embarrassing.

‘It’s not something I ever want to repeat…I just would hope that we would never ever go there again.’ 

Webbe, from Islington, north London, stood in the dock wearing a black suit, to confirm her name, date of birth and address, before sitting next to her solicitor as the case against her was opened. She denies a single count of harassment.

Webbe entered the Commons in December 2019, winning the seat formerly held by Keith Vaz, the Labour veteran who retired from Parliament in the wake of a scandal.

She was a councillor in Islington between 2010 and 2018 and was a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.

Earlier in her career, she was a political adviser to then-London mayor Ken Livingstone. The trial, which is due to last one day in front of Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring, continues.