Man who breached restraining order to send MP abusive emails is convicted

An abusive man who ignored a restraining order to send malicious emails to his Member of Parliament has been convicted.

Gene Matthews, 53, of Willenhall, admitted he sent Valerie Vaz, MP for Walsall South, abusive messages about his previous convictions and used offensive language to accuse her of being racist. The four emails were sent on February 20, 2024 over a period of thirty minutes.

Matthews had previously sent derogatory emails to Mrs Vaz in April 2020, which resulted in a harassment protection order preventing him from contacting or attempting to communicate with Valerie Vaz MP, either directly or indirectly.

The emails sent on February 20 were a clear breach of this previous order, and the victim’s witness statement made clear that she felt threatened, alarmed and shocked after receiving these messages.

Amy Groves, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands, said: “Elected officials have a right to do their jobs and represent their constituents without receiving derogatory messages that are intended to spark fear and distress.

“It’s clear that Matthews’ behaviour was an escalation on previous abusive messages he had sent to Valerie Vaz, and working with our police partners, we acted quickly to secure a conviction and prevent him from causing further harm or distress. This result is further evidence of how seriously the CPS takes offending of this nature and Matthews will now face the consequences for his criminal actions.”

Matthews pleaded guilty to one count of sending offensive/indecent communications and one count of breaching a restraining order at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court on March 5, 2024.

He will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on April 2, 2024.