Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
11th June 2012, 12:47
An internet troll who sent a threatening email to Conservative MP Louise Mensch has been arrested after failing to attend court.
Frank Zimmerman, 60, from Barnwood, Gloucester, was due to be sentenced at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court on Friday but failed to turn up.
He emailed the MP for Corby, telling her to stop using Twitter or face the consequences.
He was found guilty in his absence by Gloucester magistrates in April.
Gloucestershire Police said Zimmerman was taken into custody on Monday morning and would be taken to court for sentencing.
Zimmerman was convicted in April of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing message or matter.
He also failed to attend on that occasion, blaming agoraphobia and depression.
'Sophie's choice'
The court was told he emailed Mrs Mensch after she suggested social networking sites could be closed by police during last summer's riots.
In the email he said the mother-of-three she faced "Sophie's choice" - a reference to a novel in which heroine Sophie has to choose between the life of her son or daughter at a Nazi concentration camp.
Mrs Mensch called the police and arranged security for her family.
The email was traced to the IP address of Zimmerman's home computer who blamed hackers for sending it.
He attended court in May for sentencing, having been driven there by police, but a district judge adjourned the case until 7 June so that a pre-sentence report could be completed.
(From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-18391970)
Frank Zimmerman, 60, from Barnwood, Gloucester, was due to be sentenced at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court on Friday but failed to turn up.
He emailed the MP for Corby, telling her to stop using Twitter or face the consequences.
He was found guilty in his absence by Gloucester magistrates in April.
Gloucestershire Police said Zimmerman was taken into custody on Monday morning and would be taken to court for sentencing.
Zimmerman was convicted in April of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing message or matter.
He also failed to attend on that occasion, blaming agoraphobia and depression.
'Sophie's choice'
The court was told he emailed Mrs Mensch after she suggested social networking sites could be closed by police during last summer's riots.
In the email he said the mother-of-three she faced "Sophie's choice" - a reference to a novel in which heroine Sophie has to choose between the life of her son or daughter at a Nazi concentration camp.
Mrs Mensch called the police and arranged security for her family.
The email was traced to the IP address of Zimmerman's home computer who blamed hackers for sending it.
He attended court in May for sentencing, having been driven there by police, but a district judge adjourned the case until 7 June so that a pre-sentence report could be completed.
(From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-18391970)