'I'm very sorry' says man who threatened to put Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan in 'burns unit'

A man said if Nicky Morgan ever knocked on his door she would ‘have to go to the burns unit’ and would be 'scarred for life’.

Lee Hickling used an alias to make ‘abhorrent’ comments about the Loughborough MP in a series of threatening Facebook posts because he was frustrated about Brexit.

The jobless 44-year-old's posts on the Spotted: In and around Loughborough page were seen by one of Mrs Morgan’s constituents who alerted the MP to them.

The MP, who campaigned to remain in the EU and has opposed a no deal Brexit, then reported the remarks to the police.

Hickling admitted sending a threatening electronic message to the MP when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates' court today.

Sally Bedford, prosecuting, told magistrates Mrs Morgan found the posts grossly offensive and that some of them had referred to using violence.

Ms Bedford said Mrs Morgan, who has been Loughborough’s Conservative MP since 2010, had found the hostility of the remarks distressing.

'A good kicking'

The prosecutor said: “They (the posts) are difficult to read as there is no punctuation.”

In one, read to the court, Hickling said: “She needs a good kicking” and that she had done nothing for the town.

Hickling, who lives with his parents, also posted “I will be protesting outside slagbag’s office on May 2 – election day” and called the MP a ‘horrible slut’.

Posting as Ray Brendon Smith he also made comments about refugees being prioritised for council housing.

A further post said: “If she knocks on my door she will have to go to the burns unit.

“She will be scarred for life. You have been warned”

It was the police who actually knocked on Hickling’s door, in Maple Road South, Loughborough, after tracing the account to him.

He admitted responsibility for the account and the posts expressing frustration to the police about the political situation.

He said he had been encouraged to make the remarks by others but would not name them.

In a statement to the court, Mrs Morgan said threats like Hickling's had meant she had to increase security for her and her staff installing CCTV and panic alarms as well as having to arrange not to appear in public on her own.

The court was told Hickling wrote the posts while under a community order for a similar matter of harassment against a friend following a conviction in August last year.

He also had harassment convictions from 2015 and 2016.

'He knows he has gone too far'

Mellku Diez, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He said: “He did explain to the police his political frustration with Brexit and how it had been handled.

“He knows he has gone too far.

“He does acknowledge Mrs Morgan would be alarmed and distressed.

“He tells me it is nothing personal to Nicky Morgan herself but it was more a reflection of his frustration.

“He said he had met her once and she was quite a nice lady.”

Hickling appeared in court on Tuesday with bandages around his his wrist.

Mr Diez said he had harmed himself with a key before arriving at for the case.

Court staff bandaged him up and urged him to go to hospital but Mr Diez said his client ‘is a man who wants to face the music’ and would seek treatment only after the case concluded.

Chairman of the bench Paul Forrester-Brown imposed a restraining order preventing Hickling from contacting Mrs Morgan in any way or going to her constituency office in Loughborough.

He said: “You have previous similar offences while on a community order and the victim is in public office.

“There has been national concern about high-profile people having threats made against them.

“The comments you made on social media are not acceptable.”

Hickling, who apologised to the court, was made subject to a six month community order which includes a 7pm to 7am curfew.