A woman who tried to summon her MP, Solicitor General Ellie Reeves, to court has been jailed for harassment in London.
Tracy Smith sent 22 emails and 10 voicemails to Reeves, calling him “transphobic” and accusing her older sister – Chancellor, Rachel Reeves – of physically assaulting her at a buffet bar.
Smith, who is a trans woman, used phrases such as “A person is dangerous when he has nothing to lose” and “Bullets will be flying all around.”
The 58-year-old was sentenced to 26 weeks’ imprisonment at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and ordered to pay £650 costs.
District Judge Michael Snow also ordered a ban without any time limit.
Smith persuaded a county court to issue a subpoena to Reeves, which the MP was only able to avoid with the help of the lawyers of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
He also accused the local council, doctors and police and demanded that Reeves contact him personally to know the whole story.
Smith claimed she was trying to ask the Lewisham West and East Dulwich MP for help, but a judge found her guilty of harassment after a one-day trial last month.
District Judge Snow said Smith’s insults were intended to cause Reeves “maximum fear and distress” and were a “direct attack on democracy”.
He told Smith that he had used language that was “inflammatory, threatening and which continued even after you told him not to in clear words.”
Snow said: “This was deliberate, planned, and had a very significant impact on Ms Reeves – causing her significant anxiety, which prevented her from fully engaging with her family.”
Sentencing Smith, he told her: “You have induced Ms Reeves to make significant changes to her lifestyle and this has had a direct impact on her democratic duties.
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“You assigned a special security officer to her, causing her to change the way she behaves within her constituency, whereby she no longer travels on foot or by public transport.”
Between July and October 2024, Smith sent emails and left voicemails accusing Reeves of “legalizing sexual exploitation”, “abusing the law” and being a “fascist”, the court heard.
Reeves stated in the lawsuit that Smith left her a “slightly alarming” voicemail telling her that “time was running out” for her to respond.
In one of his emails, Smith said the MP’s sister and the Chancellor “looked like the woman who attacked me in the buffet bar”, the court heard.
Reeves also stated in the lawsuit that Smith’s communications “was harassing me, it was harassing my staff. It seemed like it wasn’t going to stop”.
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