A former vet stalked a Conservative MP for more than a year and sent a letter containing white powder to her home, a jury has heard.
Maurice Kirk, 76, was apparently upset at what he regarded as Rebecca Pow’s failure to help him in a legal battle against South Wales police.
Kirk claimed Pow, the MP for Taunton Deane, had not answered his letters and phone calls over the case, Exeter crown court was told.
He posted a blog on his website which showed him carrying a shotgun with two photos of Pow underneath.
Pow was so worried she increased her personal security by carrying an alarm and installing sensors around her home.
Kirk, from Taunton, denied stalking that caused serious alarm or distress. He represented himself in court, wearing a pin-striped suit and bow tie.
He argued that he was simply a constituent seeking help from an MP and said the white powder was toothpaste that he used to seal the envelope.
Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said the stalking started in May 2019 when Kirk was serving a jail sentence in Cardiff for an unconnected offence.
Kirk contacted Pow to enlist her help over another case in which he was suing the police after being cleared of fixing a machine gun to a vintage plane.
He sent a letter to Pow’s home in Somerset. As she read it, she realised she had white powder on her hands and called the police. The powder turned out to be harmless.
After Kirk was released from prison, he turned up at her home in May 2020.
Shellard said: “Kirk called the police at 9.50am that day saying he was going to Ms Pow’s house because she had not responded to his requests. He wanted the police to tell her he was coming.” The police advised him not to go but he ignored them.
Kirk later posted a short video clip of his visit to the house, plus a photo of him with a shotgun and two pictures of Pow.
The next day he phoned her agent and threatened to “create merry hell” at her office unless she contacted him, the court was told. He sent a voicemail to her office manager saying he was moving on to “Plan F”, which heightened concern for the MP’s safety.
The trial continues.
