A Man Has Been Cautioned For Threatening To Rape And Torture A Tory MP

Leicestershire police confirmed to BuzzFeed News that a 51-year-old was handed a caution for harassing senior Conservative MP Caroline Nokes.

A man has been cautioned for sending Tory MP Caroline Nokes a rape threat online that led to the MP installing a panic button at her home.

Caroline Nokes

BuzzFeed News understands that the man, who posed as a female Facebook user to send Nokes a message saying she deserved to be "violently raped" and "left for dead", was Tim Price, 51, from Rutland.

Leicestershire police confirmed that a 51-year-old had been cautioned under the Malicious Communications Act.

The MP for Romsey and Southampton North said Price was one of many supporters of campaign group Fathers4Justice who had sent her threats over the past two years.

But Fathers4Justice, which campaigns for equal parenting rights, has denied any knowledge of anyone who has sent her abuse.

Price was cautioned for sending this threatening Facebook message to the MP:

carolinenokes.com

BuzzFeed News has seen Price's letter of apology to Nokes, written on 12 December, the same day he was cautioned after attending a voluntary interview.

BuzzFeed

It begins: "My name is Tim Price. I am the person who sent you that terrible and disgusting message on Facebook. I have no excuse for my actions. You must have been understandably upset and shaken to have received such a message and words cannot express my apology nor how disgusted I feel for putting you and your family through such a dreadful ordeal."

He says he had been following the Fathers4Justice Facebook page, adding: "I got myself wound up by the utter hatred that came from this page."

But he insists: "I would like to reassure you that you and your family are in absolutely no danger of physical violence from this incident."

Nokes, a mother of one, has changed her locks and installed panic buttons in her house as a result of such messages.

She said she has been deluged with hundreds of abusive tweets, emails and Facebook messages from Fathers4Justice supporters following a long-running campaign over the past two years.

According to the MP, the messages started when Fathers4Justice wasn't allowed to give oral evidence to a consultation on the Children and Families Bill, for which Nokes sat on the committee. She claimed the group "whipped their supporters into a frenzy" and encouraged people to threaten her.

Nokes, who is now a parliamentary aide to work and pensions minister Mark Harper, said: "For too long I have just ignored these sad individuals hoping they would go away. But they clearly won't and the organisation has forced me to a position where I'm prepared to identify their supporter who was cautioned because it's never acceptable to threaten to rape and torture someone. Just because you're hiding behind a cloak of anonymity doesn't mean you'll get away with it and never should you.

"If these people get away with bullying and threatening me then they will go after other people who might not have the strength of character to cope."

Fathers4Justice did not return requests for comment.

But in a statement on Tuesday, the group accused Nokes of a "smear campaign" and said they were "unaware of any police investigations or arrests".

It said: "Fathers4Justice doesn't have a 'membership'. If she is referring to the actions of a lone individual, she needs to stop smearing F4J. We are a peaceful, nonviolent campaign group with a history of humorous, witty protests."

Jan. 23, 2015, at 19:35 PM

In a statement released on Friday, Fathers4Justice said it was "not responsible for the conduct of members of the public any more than the MP is responsible for the actions of constituents, and they unreservedly condemn anyone involved in online abuse and says those responsible should be brought to justice to feel the full force of the law".