Man who made threats to MP and greeted police with crossbow jailed

A man has been jailed after sending threatening emails to an MP and greeting the police at his home armed with a crossbow.

Ryan Breheny, 48, called the emergency services just after 6.15pm on 3 June this year. He told the police operator he wanted to make a complaint about the NHS.

He then said that he had been “offered an AK:47 and was going to execute everyone in the hospital wearing a uniform“.

He continued to make threats, using the word “execute“ multiple times, referring to the specific weapons he was planning on using.

During the call, Breheny referred to chemicals he could get hold of and how easy it was to make a bomb.

Less than an hour later, he sent two threatening email messages to an MP’s constituency office. The messages contained threats to kill the MP.

The office manager who opened the emails was very distressed and contacted the police. In a victim personal statement which was read to the court she said: “I was shocked and genuinely believed that this man could’ve carried out the threats that he was making”.

Police officers attended his address later that evening and as one of the officers knocked on the door, he could see Breheny in the house, with a crossbow.

Breheny was told to drop the weapon but instead began to load it and opened the door with the weapon in his hand.

He was later arrested in his house after he dropped the weapon. Further weapons were seized from inside his home including, slingshots, rifles, a baton and a machete.

In Breheny’s police interview, he admitted sending the emails to the MP’s office and making the call to the emergency services, although he claimed he had no intention of carrying out his threats.

Breheny was jailed on 17 September 2024 at Bolton Crown Court for three years and three months.

Abbie Clarke, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in the North West,said: “Breheny’s threats have caused fear and distress to the staff at the MP’s office.

“Members of Parliament and the emergency services play vital roles in our communities and criminality cannot be allowed to impede or affect that in any way.

“The Crown Prosecution Service works with the police to protect MPs and our emergency services, so they can continue to do their important work.”