Man guilty of stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt

A man has been found guilty of stalking former Conservative leadership candidate Dame Penny Mordaunt.

However, Edward Brandt, 61, of Lymington, Hampshire, was cleared of the more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

The jury at Southampton Crown Court heard he sent multiple emails and phone messages to Dame Penny and also turned up at her Portsmouth office out-of-hours in a bid to meet her.

Dame Penny, who was an MP from 2010 to 2024, said in a statement to police that she "feared sexual violence" because of the defendant's "creepy" behaviour, the court heard.

The alleged offending occurred between 11 September 2023 and 12 May 2024.

Brandt, a former councillor, was arrested in March last year and given a conditional caution the following month, requiring him not to contact Dame Penny, but he then left two voicemail messages for her.

In one of the messages, he said: "I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up."

The jury returned the guilty verdict by a majority of 10 to two.

Brandt wept and held his hands over his face after the verdicts were returned.

Explaining why he wanted to meet Dame Penny, the former elected member of East Hampshire District Council said he wanted to commiserate with her over her leadership bid.

He added: "I wanted to congratulate her because she was a reforming leader of the Commons, I wanted to congratulate her on the coronation, chat to her about her time in office, have her sign a copy of her book.

"It was entirely political and entirely harmless."

Clearly emotional at times, Dame Penny told the court: "The difference between this case and even threats to shoot me and my family [is that] they are easier to deal with because that threat is not constantly present.

"It's not something you are having to think about every single day when you are leaving your house.

"I believe this man was a real threat to me and still is."

Brandt was released on conditional bail ahead of sentencing on 16 January.