Man guilty of abusing MP Clive Lewis after he backed trans breastfeeding

MP Clive Lewis was branded a “nonce” and a “paedophile” in a string of abusive Facebook posts after he publicly supported transwomen breast-feeding babies, a court has heard.

Paul Fogg, 40, targeted the Labour MP for Norwich South in July last year after the politician signed a petition in support of Mika Minio-Paluello.

He was among a raft of Labour MPs who publicly offered their support, withMr Lewis also taking to social media to write: “Proud to have signed this. Bring your insults. It just strengthens our resolve.”

Westminster magistrates court heard Fogg, who lives alone in Great Yarmouth, joined in a growing online storm over the issue, posting on Facebook and sharing comments with Mr Lewis’s own page.

Prosecutor Nathan Paine-Davy said Mr Lewis was accused of not “caring about child safety” and was then called a “nonce and a paedophile”.

Fogg also called the MP’s office, leaving a voicemail repeating the abusive slurs and suggesting Mr Lewis would “like to have a child sucking on his nipple”.

The defendant finished the voicemail by stating: “I’m Paul Fogg, come and nick me”.

The abuse aimed at the MP happened after Ms Minio-Paluello, a transgender woman who was born male, appeared on ITV’s News At Ten to speak about rising bills, and commenting that it is “tough if you're a mum”.

When a breast pump was spotted in the footage by viewers and highlighted online, she took to Twitter to say that “trans women can breastfeed”, together with a picture.

Mr Lewis signed a petition set up in “solidarity”, after abuse was aimed at Ms Minio-Paluello.

Ian Fisher, representing Fogg, said he was drinking heavily at the time, mixed with medication for back and stomach problems which had forced him to stop working as an asbestos removal specialist.

Suffering from “social isolation” and depression, Mr Fisher said Fogg saw a headline on a local news website, read the story about the MP’s intervention, and then delved into the comments as they “developed like wildfire”.

Fogg's lawyer told the court hearing

“He read the comments, followed the thread, and started to get worked up, and he jumped on the bandwagon.”

Mr Fisher said Fogg “doesn’t have much of a social media platform himself, though he is not a man in a field in the dark shouting in the wind. But he doesn’t have much of a following.”

He said Fogg has now quit alcohol and accepts it was a “very disgraceful and abhorrent thing to do”.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said Mr Lewis had expressed in a victim statement - which was not read aloud in court - that he suffered “substantial distress” after the abuse from Fogg.

“People seem to think MPs, because they put themselves in the public domain, should have a thicker skin, but they are victims and should be treated as victims like anybody else”, said the judge.

“What you did and what you said was abhorrent, disgusting, and in some ways disturbing.

“But essentially it was a one-off, borne from isolation, depression, and alcohol.”

Fogg, who pleaded guilty to two counts of sending offensive messages under the Malicious Communications Act 1988, was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for the next year.

The judge ordered him to complete 20 rehab sessions, pay £100 compensation to the MP, as well as £85 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.

Fogg is also banned indefinitely from contacting Mr Lewis or his constituency office.