Lord Alan Sugar has said he was “now always looking over my shoulder” after three antisemitic letters were sent to him, with one saying “I would like to murder all Jews in Britain, Alan”.
The letters, which were opened by the Apprentice star’s assistant, were sent to Lord Sugar between October and December 2018, during the height of Labour’s antisemitism crisis.
Patrick Gomes, 70, from Leyton, east London, was arrested in March 2019 after his DNA and fingerprints were found on one of the letters.
During a search of his home, officers found additional letters written by Gomes, all of which were discriminatory in nature. They also found the address of Lord Sugar’s office listed in his address book.
During the trial this week, prosecutor Adam Pearson explained one of the letters argued there was “no antisemitic element within the Labour Party” then “went on to say the author of the letter was a Jew hater”.
One passage said: “I would round all of you up and put you into camps ready for deportation.”
Another referred to “shoving your screaming head into a hot oven – we call it baking Jewish bread”.
One letter was signed “the Jew hater”.
Mr Pearson told the court that Lord Sugar said he “had been made to feel extremely scared and upset, he hadn’t told his family as he knew how scared and upset it would make them”.
The businessman said in a statement read in court: “The whole incident has shaken me up and I’m now always looking over my shoulder in case someone is close to me and about to attack me or my family.”
The letters were sent during the height of Labour’s antisemitism scandal. Lord Sugar spoke out against Labour at the time and the letters included a defence of the Labour party.
Judge Timothy Walker said he had received a handwritten letter from the defendant in which there was “no mention of apology towards Lord Sugar, there’s no mention of remorse”.
The judge stated “no concerns” about Gomes mental health and he was fully aware of what he was doing.
He said the letters were “frightening and deeply offensive to Lord Sugar”, adding: “Society will not tolerate behaviour such as yours”.
On Wednesday, Mr Gomes was jailed for three years and six months at Chelmsford Crown Court and handed an indefinite restraining order not to contact Lord Sugar.
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