A trans woman has been jailed for harassing Labour minister Ellie Reeves, as the judge slammed the civil courts for allowing abusers to weaponise the justice system.
Tracey Smith, 58, deluged the office of Ms Reeves with a barrage of “sinister” emails and voicemails, issuing threats, abuse, and baseless accusations of criminal conduct.
Smith accused Ms Reeves, the Labour MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich and current Solicitor General, of “terrorism” and aiding and abetting crimes, and made a bogus allegation that she had been attacked over her trans identity by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Ms Reeves’ sister, at a buffet event.
The campaign of harassment, between July and October last year, culminating in Smith managing to obtain a witness summons for Ms Reeves, which was intended to force the Minister to attend a civil court hearing.
Ms Reeves told Westminster magistrates court she was distraught when the summons arrived, and Central London county court told her she would have to pay £300 if she wanted the summons withdrawn, and would have to face Smith in court anyway in order to get the malicious court order withdrawn.
In the end, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, intervened to insist to the court that Ms Reeves had to be in Parliament on the day of the hearing, superceding the powers of the civil court.
On Friday, District Judge Michael Snow handed Smith a 26-week prison sentence and an indefinite restraining order.
And in his sentencing remarks, he called for civil court reform to stop others from using legal proceedings – like Smith – to pursue a harassment campaign.
On the summons being issued, he said: “I’m appalled if this be the case, that the civil courts are so poorly organised that they don’t address the issue of whether any witness has material evidence to give, and consider whether the purpose of obtaining a witness summons is in fact to harass the witness against whom it is unreasonably sought.”
He continued: “I find it shocking that someone in Ms Reeves’ situation, who has no evidence to give in what appears to be a non-existent claim, is required to pay £300 to be released from the summons to give evidence she can’t in any event give.
“It is something that needs to be looked at, to prevent other witnesses being victimised in a similar way in the future.”
Smith was convicted of harassment after a trial, in which Ms Reeves gave evidence in court that she initially thought the county court summons must be a fake.
The court heard Smith contacted Ms Reeves’ office shortly after she was elected to the new seat of Lewisham West and East Dulwich and became her MP in July 2024.
In emails and voicemails, Smith outlined how she had issue court proceedings against Keir Starmer and claimed to be the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of civil servants in Lewisham, as well as police officers and doctors.
Smith alleged she had been targeted “purely because I am trans”.
Ms Reeves said she found it “alarming” after reading that Smith had written: “A person is most dangerous when they have nothing else to lose.”
The MP said she was accused of wanting to “legalise abuse”, as well as sexual assault and “deprivation of civil liberties” for trans women.
“I have been heavily involved with a lot of the Labour Party’s work in ending violence against women and girls, it is something I take very seriously and passionately”, she told the court.
“To get this sort of thing in an email that I want to legalise it and am complicit in whatever happened to her, I found it quite distressing and offensive.”
The MP described Smith’s tone as growing “sinister”, and said ultimately she decided to issue a “cease and desist” letter to try to cut off the “barrage” of communications.
Smith described herself as a “person who has nothing to lose”, and Ms Reeves told the judge: “I didn’t know what Tracey Smith was going to do next.”
She also referenced the murders of fellow MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, and described her growing alarm when her sister Rachel was drawn into the messages, accused by Smith of an “attack” over her trans identity.
After the cease and desist letter, Smith replied the same day with a renewed threat to issue a witness summons to court.
In her victim impact statement on Friday, Ms Reeves said the tone of Smith’s emails “made me more scared for my physical safety”, and she felt the content of the accusations being levelled against her was “out of control”.
She said she spent most of a day with her family on the phone trying to handle the witness summons issue, as she was reduced to tears.
Sir Lindsay also submitted a statement about abuse and threats to MPs, telling the court: “Democracy itself is at risk if MPs are forced to reduce engagement with constituents, change the ways they interact with voters, or make decisions to not stand for re-election.”
He urged for Smith to face the “full force of the law”, and said he already knows of MPs who are planning to stand down at the next election due to fears for the safety of themselves, their staff, and their families.
Smith denied and was convicted at trial of harassment.
The court heard she had mental health issues including PTSD, anxiety, and depression, but she has so far refused to engage with treatment services including a personality disorder service.
The judge said she was “extremely aggressive and controlling” in a past meeting with a probation officer.
He ordered her to also cover the £650 cost of the trial.
