Man jailed over malicious messages to Birmingham MP ‘was radicalised online’

Jack Bennett was jailed for sending what the judge called an “utterly deplorable” email to safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, a day after she had been criticised by X owner Elon Musk.

Bennett pleaded guilty at Exeter Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to sending malicious communications to three people between February 2024 and January 2025, including the Birmingham Yardley MP and the mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan.

Sir Sadiq said there is a “direct causal effect” between what people say online and criminal acts.

“Yesterday there was a case in the criminal court where somebody was found guilty of malicious communication towards Jess Phillips and myself and the judge said … that this chap had been radicalised online,” he told LBC.

“And so we’ve got examples of people being radicalised online and it should worry the Government, and I know it does, and both (Home Secretary) Yvette Cooper and (Prime Minister Sir) Keir Starmer take this very seriously.”

The Crown Prosecution Service said the email to Ms Phillips was sent on January 2 2025, the day after Mr Musk said the MP “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests to the Home Office for a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

The X owner later branded her a “rape genocide apologist”.

Sir Sadiq said: “There is a link, a direct cause and effect, between what people say on social media and criminal acts of threatening violence or violence.”

Bennett also sent racist and offensive emails to Sir Sadiq in February 2024 and Matt Twist, the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in April 2024.

He was sentenced to 28 weeks in prison.