A man who sent a “disgustingly racist” letter to former prime minister Rishi Sunak has been told by a judge his actions were “abhorrent”.
Stephen Burke sent the letter on November 9 2022, in which he called the then-prime minister and his wife racist slurs, adding “we’re after you” and that Mr Sunak should “be quick” if he wanted to “save himself”.
The 68-year-old, from Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, also referred to the couple’s children, telling Mr Sunak he and his family “better watch your backs”.
Although the letter was intercepted at 10 Downing Street before it could be put in front of the PM, district judge Paul Goldspring said Burke’s intention was “clearly for Rishi Sunak to read the letter, and for him to feel offended, perhaps threatened, and certainly distressed by its content”.
Burke, who appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to the charge, was told his offence came close to crossing the custodial threshold.
Former prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Jack Taylor/The Times)
Judge Goldspring said: “The real gravitas was the disgusting racial undertone of it.”
Referring to Burke’s frequent use of the racist slur “p***” throughout the letter, Judge Goldspring said: “It’s abhorrent. The word itself is abhorrent, the reason to use the word is abhorrent, and the whole process you went through sending this letter is abhorrent.
“There are many ways to say that you are not happy with the way someone is running the country that does not require you being racist or xenophobic.”
Judge Goldspring added: “You thought it necessary to mention his children. Let me be very clear: all politicians accept that they put themselves in the public eye and are therefore fair game for proper criticism.
“What it is not a licence to is for them to be made threats to, or reference their children.”
Rishi Sunak with his wife Akshata Murty (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Prosecutor Andrew Moss, summarising the case before the court, said the letter “kicked off by referring to the Prime Minister as a “p*** c***” and a “murdering c***”, telling him to “f*** off to p***-land”.
Burke also called Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty a “filthy rich, non-tax-paying slag wife”.
“We’re after you,” Burke added. “You’ve gone too far. Enough is enough.
“You can save yourself and your family, but you must be quick.”
The letter was intercepted at 10 Downing Street by staff at the mail opening unit and referred to security.
The court heard the team assessed the level of threat and decided that the risk was high.
“Once they read the letter, they reported it to the police because it contained physical threats with offensive and racist language”, Mr Moss told the chief magistrate.
Stephen Burke outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Burke pleaded guilty to a single charge of sending a letter conveying an indecent or offensive message contrary to Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 on September 16 this year.
Sandeep Pankhania, mitigating, said Burke wrote the letter after he became addicted to alcohol and lost his job as a result.
“He is sorry and you will have read in the pre-sentence report that his remorse and contrition are genuine”, Mr Pankhania told the judge.
Burke, of Edith Road in Clacton-on-Sea, was sentenced to an 18-month community order and 150 hours of unpaid word.
He was also made subject to GPS trail monitoring for a period of six months and ordered to pay £199 in costs and surcharge.