Top Tory 'threatened' by alleged fake policeman who pursued him, court told
Top Tory Gavin Williamson said he felt "incredibly threatened" by a man who allegedly impersonated a police officer, followed him twice and threatened to arrest him.
The ex-Education Secretary, who gave evidence in court today, said he was "fearful" after being pursued by a "very aggressive man" that he could be the victim of a knife attack. Simon Parry was accused of being "very aggressive" towards Sir Gavin after having allegedly "persistently followed" him on May 24 and June 14 this year. He is also alleged to have threatened to arrest Sir Gavin during one of the incidents, allegedly flashing what appeared to be a police warrant card at the Tory MP.
Parry, 45 of no fixed abode, denies one count of stalking and one count of impersonating a police officer. Giving evidence at City of London Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, Sir Gavin told of how Parry began following him along streets in Whitehall on two occasions after the MP walked past a protest area opposite Downing Street.
Simon Parry denies one count of stalking and one count of impersonating a police officer (PA)Of the May incident, Sir Gavin told the court he heard Parry making comments about vaccinations while walking in "close proximity" to him. Asked how he felt at the time, Sir Gavin said: "It was someone who was quite aggressive towards you, someone who was not really actually wanting to have a discussion, but rather express their views or their anger or their dissatisfaction, actually. It felt very unpleasant."
He added: "Of course as an MP you get a lot of people approaching you all the time. People are often approaching you with concerns they want to discuss... (but) done in a very different manner to that. You felt as if this was part of intimidation or sort of trying to make a publicity work or something along those lines."
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Of the June incident, Sir Gavin said he heard Parry making comments about vaccinations again and also about "genocide", and eventually realised that the comments were directed at him. The MP kept walking and speaking with a constituent on the phone, he told the court.
He called Parry's "persistence" in following him from the Parliamentary estate towards Euston "quite disturbing". "It was quite evident that this individual was hostile to myself," Sir Gavin said. "I was talking to a constituent who sadly that day had had to have their dog put down."
He continued: "Why should I, you know, not do what I thought was my job because this very aggressive person was harassing me and pursuing me?" The politician then went on to explain how he believed Parry flashed a warrant card and spoke about arresting him.
"At this point it is getting to feel kind of more scary because it's a confined space," he said. "I can hear constant references to police, police, police, and saying about arresting me and at this stage... the defendant then shows what looks like a police a Metropolitan Police badge, but it was just a crest." "I felt incredibly threatened by it," he added about the June incident.
Sir Gavin said he asked the constituent he was phoning if he could continue speaking with her as a "comfort" to himself before Parry eventually stopped following him. Asked about what impact the incidents have had on him, Sir Gavin said: "When someone is acting in such an extreme way... you don't really know what they're capable of doing. You sadly do hear of instances where people have used a knife or such thing in the past, so you get quite fretful as to whether you're in that type of scenario and an incident like this just makes you more fearful."
Sir Gavin has been MP for South Staffordshire since 2010 and served in cabinet as defence secretary before becoming education secretary under Boris Johnson in 2019.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
