Man sentenced for ‘disgustingly racist’ letter to Rishi Sunak

A man who sent a “disgustingly racist” letter to Rishi Sunak has been told by a judge his actions were “abhorrent”.

Stephen Burke sent the letter on 9 November 2022, in which he called the then-prime minister and his wife racist slurs, adding: “We’re after you.”

The 68-year-old, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, also referred to the couple’s children, telling Mr Sunak he and his family “better watch your backs”.

He admitted an offence under the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to an 18-month community order and 150 hours’ unpaid work.

The letter was intercepted at 10 Downing Street before it could be put in front of Sunak, the court heard on Tuesday.

However, 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,” said District Judge Paul Goldspring.

He added: “The real gravitas was the disgusting racial undertone of it.”

The judge described as “abhorrent” Burke’s repeated use of a racial slur throughout the letter.

“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,” he said.

The Downing Street security team deemed the letter to pose a high level of threat, the court heard.

“Once they read the letter, they reported it to the police because it contained physical threats with offensive and racist language,” prosecutor Andrew Moss said.

Sandeep Pankhania, mitigating, said Burke wrote the letter after he lost his job due to his addiction to alcohol.

“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, was also made subject to GPS trail monitoring for six months and ordered to pay £199 in costs and a surcharge.