Disgraced dentist who threatened to kill a Labour MP spared jail

A disgraced dentist who threatened to kill a Labour MP during an “intense” four-year hate campaign was spared jail today and given a hospital order.

Amit Kerai, 37, launched a four-year campaign of harassment against MP Barry Gardiner, a dentist and his daughter – sending more than 10,000 Tweets that included pornographic images and explicit images of the war in Ukraine.

Kerai, who had a history of drug abuse, also admitted possession of cocaine and cannabis.

The Old Bailey heard how he threatened to behead the woman in a sinister voicemail.

Kerai appeared via videolink from a mental health ward at the Park Royal Hospital in north London wearing a black t-shirt with black hair and a black beard, and spoke only to confirm his name.

In a victim impact statement partially read out during the sentencing hearing, 66-year-old Mr Gardiner, the Labour MP for Brent North in London, claimed security levels afforded to MPs were ‘lamentably poor’.

The MP said that Kerai’s campaign made him fear for the safety of his family and his staff.

Kerai’s other two victims, Keith Percival, a dentist and the Chairman of the British Dental Guild, and his daughter Emily Vidovic, who worked as an administrator at the Hampshire dental practice where her father worked, were subjected to equally distressing abuse from Kerai.

A voicemail message left by Kerai for Ms Vidovic, who has young children, was played in court, during which the former dentist is heard calmly explaining: “I might actually have to come to your house and cut your head off.”

It’s understood Kerai had a ‘grudge’ against the General Dental Council (GDC) after being suspended from practicing.

Kerai, of Barnet, north London, admitted threatening to kill Mr Gardiner plus two charges of instilling fear of violence through harassment in abusive and threatening emails, tweets, and phone calls spanning from 2019 to 2022.

He also admitted sending an electronic communication with the intent to cause distress or anxiety to the call centre staff at the General Dental Council in August 2022. He also admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis.

Kerai was given a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health act and handed a restraining order against all of his victims.

Summarising the victim impact statements from Kerai’s victims, prosecutor Sally Mertens said: “Keith Percival explained how the hundreds of personal tweet attacks occupied his daily thoughts as he tried to rationalise and evaluate why Amit Kerai was carrying out such an intense hate campaign against him.

“He was perhaps more worried about the impact on his daughter. She was receiving evening calls of a threatening and sinister nature.

“[Mr Percvial] concludes his statement by saying Kerai has actively and remorselessly destroyed his mental health and caused him to fear that he would be capable of causing harm to him and those around him.”

On the harassment suffered by Ms Vidovic, an administrator for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Dental Committee, Ms Mertens said threats of violence towards her had made her ‘uncomfortable, anxious and nervous’.

“This was a four-year campaign of harassment,” she said.

“She has a young family and is in fear of the threats to kill and threats of violence that he has made towards her.

“She says she doesn’t know what he is capable of doing and whether he will carry out his threats to kill her.

“She found the images of the war [in Ukraine] highly upsetting. She would never have sought out images of people that have been blown up.

“She was affected mentally by the pornographic images sent to her to insinuate that she was having an incestuous relationship with her father.

“[Kerai’s] conduct has had a significant impact on her personal and professional life.”

Reading from Mr Gardiner’s impact statement, His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, said what was most striking were his fears for the security of him and his family – especially following the brutal murders of his parliamentary colleagues Jo Cox, in 2016, and Sir David Amess in 2021.

The Judge said: “MPs have been threatened and two of his colleagues have been murdered in the course of this work.

“[Mr Gardiner] is saying that, as an MP, you have to have a relatively thick skin.

“But his safety, and that of his family, have been under great strain.”

In his statement, Mr Gardiner said: “I am all too aware that Members of Parliament are increasingly being threatened and two of my colleagues have been murdered in the course of their work.

“I consider the level of security offered to MPs to be lamentably poor.

“I refuse to allow these threats to reduce my accessibility to my constituents and still hold surgeries and take public transport and attend other public meetings, but I feel that the job of being a member of Parliament now places much greater strain on my staff and my family than when I began in Parliament 25 years ago.”

Added to the perceived threat was the fact that Kerai knew where he worked and had been to his constituency surgery, the court heard.

In an answerphone message left by Kerai for Ms Vidovic and played to the court, he calmly explained: “I might actually have to come to your house and cut your head off…

“Let police know that if they come to my house without a warrant, I’m going to kill them. Call the police you b***h.”

Judge Lucraft acknowledged that Kerai had already spent a significant amount of time in custody and, considering the medical reports from his doctors which stated he had a mental disorder, handed him a hospital order.

Kerai was also sentenced for possessing 480 grams of cannabis and 18.6 grams of cocaine, with the court hearing he had a ‘history’ of using the drugs.

“You have been practicing dentist and face a misconduct hearing by the General Dental Council,” he told Kerai.

“You made many accusations against [Mr Percival and his daughter Ms Vidovic] and called them racists and fascists… making demands for money [using] blackmail and coercion.

“The nature spread as time went on and the local MP, Barry Gardiner, was also subjected to the allegations by you.

“In February 2022, following a threatening phone call from you, Keith Percival contacted the police.

“The police warned you about your conduct, but you continued with your campaign.

“Mr Percival started a civil action against you. You continued your campaign.

“You sent [your victims] more than 10,400 Tweets. They were derogatory and included images of the war in Ukraine.

“It’s clear you are someone who has a mental disorder and there is a history or cannabis and cocaine use.

“I therefore make an order under Section 37 [of the Mental Health Act].”

Judge Lucraft also imposed a restraining order prohibiting Kerai from contacting or visiting any of his victims and from entering the towns of Bishops Waltham and Farnham, both in Hampshire.