Man charged over Creasy messages

Stella Creasy MP (left) and Caroline Criado-Perez suffered abuse over a campaign to get a woman on bank notes
24 January 2014

A man has been charged over messages sent to the MP Stella Creasy, prosecutors said tonight.

Peter Nunn, 33, from Bristol, will appear in court next month.

Ms Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, suffered abuse along with campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez after Ms Criado-Perez took part in efforts to ensure a woman featured on British bank notes.

Baljit Ubhey, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London, said: " The CPS has today authorised the Metropolitan Police Service to charge Peter Nunn, 33, from Bristol, under section 127 of the Communications Act (2003) over messages allegedly sent to Stella Creasy MP.

"This case was reviewed in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and guidelines issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media.

"Peter Nunn will now appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 6 February 2014."

The charge comes as two people face possible jail sentences for subjecting Ms Criado-Perez to online abuse after her involvement in the campaign.

Isabella Sorley, 23, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and John Nimmo, 25, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, pleaded guilty earlier this month at Westminster Magistrates Court to sending menacing tweets. Nimmo also targeted Ms Creasy.

They were among the users of 86 separate Twitter accounts from which Ms Criado-Perez received abusive messages.

Following the court hearing, Ms Criado-Perez thanked people for their support but warned that Sorley and Nimmo represented a "small drop in the ocean" to the amount of abuse she received in July and August.

The abuse took place after Ms Criado-Perez led a campaign using social media and backed by high-profile public figures for a female figure to appear on a Bank of England note.

On July 24, the campaign found success when it was announced that novelist Jane Austen would appear on a bank note in the future.

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