A woman who tried to summon her Member of Parliament to court has been found guilty of harassment.
Tracey Smith, who is a trans woman, sent Ellie Reeves 22 emails and 10 voicemails calling her “transphobic” and accusing her older sister – Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves – of physically assaulting her at a buffet bar.
The 58-year-old persuaded a county court to issue a witness summons to Ms Reeves, which the MP was able to avoid only with the help of lawyers for the Speaker of the House.
Smith made accusations about the local council, doctors and the police, and demanded that Ms Reeves contact her personally to get the full story.
She claimed she was trying to ask the Lewisham West and East Dulwich MP for help, but a judge found her guilty of harassment after a one-day trial.
Between July and October 2024, she sent emails and left voicemails accusing Ms Reeves of “legalising sexual abuse”, “abusing the law” and being a “fascist”, prosecutor Louise Oakley told Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The MP sent Smith a letter telling her the effect she was having on her staff, but it “did not deter” her, Ms Oakley said.
Giving evidence from behind a screen with her protection officer sitting in the court room, the former barrister said the emails made her worry for her safety.
“To get this sort of thing in an email … I found quite distressing,” she said.
Ms Reeves said Smith left her a “slightly menacing” voicemail telling her “time is running out” for her to respond. This started to “cross a bit of a line”.
Ms Reeves told the court she now has to have security with her when she is in her constituency, “partly because of these communications”.
In one of her emails, Smith said Ms Reeves’ sister Rachel Reeves “looked like the woman who attacked me at a buffet bar”, the court heard.
Ms Reeves said she often received emails from people with grievances against her older sister, but said: “I’ve never had anyone accuse my sister of physically assaulting anyone before.”
Asked about the impact of Smith’s communications, she said: “It was upsetting me, it was upsetting my staff. It just felt like it wasn’t going to stop.”
Ms Reeves told the trial she received a county court summons to appear as a witness in a case Smith was involved with.
She said she had “no knowledge of” the case, and was worried about having to come “face to face” with Smith and other hostile people.
The MP said lawyers for the Speaker were “very sympathetic” about the situation she was in and successfully argued on her behalf that the need for her to sit in Parliament that day “overrode a witness summons”.
Smith, of Lewisham, denied harassment and said her intention had been to ask Ms Reeves for help.
“I stand by every allegation I have made against Ellie Reeves,” Smith told the court.
But, finding her guilty, district judge Michael Snow said her communication had been “menacing” and “alarming” for Ms Reeves and her staff.
“It’s a danger to our democracy if politicians feel they need to cocoon themselves,” he added.
“She knew her behaviour was harassing Ms Reeves.”
Smith will be sentenced at the same court on November 28.
