Man found guilty of stalking former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson

A man has been found guilty of stalking former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson. The Conservative MP said he felt “incredibly threatened” by Simon Parry who “persistently followed” him on May 24 and June 14.

Parry, 45, of no fixed abode, was convicted of one count of stalking. He had also denied impersonating a police officer by flashing what Sir Gavin said appeared to be a warrant card and making comments about arresting him on the June date.

District judge Tan Ikram found there was no case to answer with respect to the police impersonation charge because the evidence was “so poor”. The judge said: “I am satisfied that those two occasions taken collectively amount to harassment of Sir Gavin.

“The defendant thinks there is humour in relation to what he does. He uploads it onto social media. Objectively he ought to have known the course of conduct amounted to harassment. I am sure of that.”

Parry denied intending to harass, distress, humiliate or intimidate the politician over the two dates when he gave evidence on Wednesday. He appeared at court with Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Parry will be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 16. Sir Gavin has been MP for South Staffordshire since 2010 and served in cabinet as defence secretary before becoming education secretary under Boris Johnson in 2019.