Man who sent threatening emails and letters is convicted of all charges
Jelani Jones was found guilty at Ipswich Crown Court - Credit: Archant
A Martlesham man who sent menacing emails and letters to people, including threats to "beat racism" out of a solicitor, has been found guilty of a remaining charge.
Jelani Jones, 41, who represented himself during his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, faced six charges and was found guilty of five offences by a jury of eight men and four women on Tuesday.
After continuing deliberations on Wednesday, jurors found Jones guilty of the remaining offence of sending a threatening letter by an 11-1 majority verdict.
He had denied charges three offences of sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, intimidating a witness in court proceedings by sending a threatening email and two offences of sending a letter with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
During the trial, the court heard that over the course of a year Jones sent a number of emails and letters containing threats to people he had dealings with, including a solicitor, a police officer and his mother.
James Onalaja, prosecuting, told the court that Jones sent a police officer emails in 2019 accusing him of being a racist and threatening to degrade him and his family.
He had also sent an email to a solicitor threatening that bricks would be thrown through “every single window of his home” and threatening to “beat racism out of him”.
Jones admitted sending the emails and letters but claimed he’d been suffering from extreme stress and post-traumatic stress disorder, and was a victim of the Windrush scandal and a government hostile environment policy.
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On Tuesday, Jones, of Top Street, Martlesham, was found guilty of sending a threatening email to a policeman by an 11-1 majority verdict and unanimously guilty of trying to intimidate a solicitor by sending a threatening email.
He was also convicted of sending two other threatening emails by 11-1 majority verdicts and was unanimously found guilty of sending a threatening letter.
Judge Emma Peters told Jones he was "obsessing over racism" and that he was not a victim of the Windrush scandal.
She told Jones she wanted to understand more about him and ordered a psychiatric report.
The judge granted Jones conditional bail ahead of his sentence, which will take place at Ipswich Crown Court on September 22.
