Obsessed Brexit activist left Anna Soubry in fear after confrontation, court hears

Anna Soubry said she was left “in fear for her own safety” and afraid to use public transport after being confronted by an “obsessed” Brexit activist in Parliament.

The politician, a former Conservative MP who is now the leader of Change UK, was branded a “traitor” by activist Amy Dalla Mura as she gave an interview to BBC’s Newsnight in the Central Lobby at Westminster.

Weeks earlier, Dalla Mura, 56, had also disrupted a question-and-answer session Ms Soubry was giving at a London hotel, refusing to leave while shouting out questions to the “rattled” MP.

Dalla Mura, a Donald Trump supporter who brands herself “Based Amy” on social media, is accused of harassing Ms Soubry between January and March.

Ms Soubry, who is standing for election as an MP in Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, told Westminster magistrates’ court: “This defendant has frightened me more than anybody else. My fear in relation to this woman and her unusual obsessive behaviour led me to be more frightened than ever.”

She said the first incident, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in central London, left her so afraid for her safety that she spoke to the House of Commons deputy speaker and the Metropolitan Police the following day.

Ms Soubry said the incident in Parliament on the night of a crunch Brexit vote had left her afraid to be alone in public. “I was so fearful for my safety I wouldn’t travel on Tube and wouldn’t use public transport,” she told the court.

Recalling the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox at the hands of extremist Thomas Mair, she added that MPs have faced a “febrile” atmosphere.

“At that time I was flinching if anyone was behind me — I didn’t know who on earth they were. Jo Cox had been murdered by a far-Right extremist.”

The first incident happened on January 23, when Ms Soubry took questions from a crowd she believed were just journalists but also included paying guests. Dalla Mura was filming as she questioned the MP, a leading Remain supporter, on Brexit, accusing her of not respecting the referendum vote.

Footage posted online by Dalla Mura showed her ignoring requests to stop filming, refusing to leave when asked by security, and continuing to question Ms Soubry. When the event had been stopped, Dalla Mura turned the camera on herself to call the MP a “traitor”.

Ms Soubry told the court she had tried to answer the woman’s question but said she believed Dalla Mura was trying to “humiliate” her.

“She had some form of obsession,” Ms Soubry said. She said after the incident in Parliament on March 14, she left through Portcullis House to avoid a further confrontation. She added that she had also seen a video of Dalla Mura posted on March 22, showing the activist saying she was going to look for the MP in Westminster to “have a word with her”.

Dalla Mura, from Hove, denies harassing Ms Soubry. She insists the hotel incident was a legitimate political debate which Ms Soubry had willingly engaged in. Dalla Mura also claims she did not go to Central Lobby specifically to look for the MP. The trial continues.

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