Four guilty of coroner kidnap plot based on pseudo-legal ideas


Brookes: Hyper-vigilant about safety of family

A group of people who wanted to kidnap and ‘punish’ a coroner, using pseudo-legal concepts that have been rubbished by the courts, have been found guilty of multiple offences.

Sean Harper, Shiza Harper, Matthew Dean Martin and Mark Kishon Christopher were all found guilty of conspiracy to commit kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

Mr Christopher was also found guilty of sending a letter or email with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

It followed a two-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. Mr Christopher has been remanded in custody and the other three bailed until sentencing at a later date.

According to Essex Police, at around 12.30pm on 20 April 2023, the group entered Seax House in Chelmsford – where the Essex coronial service is based – and walked into one of the courtrooms wearing high-visibility jackets and body worn cameras, and carrying handcuffs.

They demanded to know where Senior Coroner Lincoln Brookes was, saying they wanted to speak with him and that the court had been shut down.

Mr Brookes was not in the building at the time and an alarm was raised, but those in the building were held inside by the group, who threatened them, claiming to know where they lived.

Police who arrived at the building and were told by Mr Christopher that “we have shut this court system down” and that “you are not here to question me, you are here to aid me”.

Mr Martin was arrested at the court on suspicion of assault and criminal damage. The others left the scene.

The police discovered that the four belong to what it called an “organised pseudolegal commercial argument” group and saw themselves as above law enforcement and the court system and as a ‘court of the people’.

They believed that they held powers of arrest and had previously discussed corporal punishment.

This movement appears akin those who espouse the ‘freeman of the land’ theory, which Master Giddens in the King’s Bench earlier this year described as “a nonsensical and harmful mix of legal words, terms, maxims, extracts and statutes which are designed to look and sound good, at least to some. But they stand only as an approximation of a claim in law, a parody of the real thing”.

On his website, Mr Christopher describes himself as the “chief federal postal court judge” with global jurisdiction over communications by government, companies and others.

The police said its enquiries revealed that Mr Brookes had received a number of letters and emails from the group which did not initially cause concern, but grew more threatening, with one letter threatening “corporal punishment on the spot”.

The other three men were soon located close to Southend County Court and arrested. Searches of their homes indicated they were planning to harm Mr Brookes.

In interview, Shiza Harper claimed that she was a qualified postal inspector after completing a two-week course led by Mr Christopher.

During the trial, Mr Brookes, a barrister, described how the incident had affected him “significantly” and had become “hyper vigilant about the safety of my family and myself”.

Detective Chief Inspector Nathan Hutchinson said: “The ideologies of this group were concerning and they genuinely believed that they had the power to construct their own legal system, threaten others and were above English law…

“It’s clear that throughout the investigation and court proceedings, that the group had no belief of regard in the British justice system.”




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