Troll called Labour MP 'dirty paedophile' in 'abhorrent' abuse after support for trans breastfeeding
| Published date | 04 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
Prosecutor Nathan Paine-Davey told how Mr Lewis signed a letter in support of trans woman Mika Minio-Paluello after she received 'a torrent of abuse' following her interview as a struggling mum on ITV News at Ten. About a week later, Mr Lewis saw a graphic of her on social media, holding a baby to her chest, with the message 'Clive Lewis MP supports this'.
In response, the one-time Labour leader candidate wrote '100% proud to support this. That the best you've got Bring it...', triggering another wave of abuse, the court heard. "He was contacted by anti-trans activists and members of the far-right. It went to the extreme of him being called a nonce and a paedophile," said Mr Paine-Davey.
Fogg was one of those who joined the abuse, writing a series of obscene, and unfounded, Facebook posts accusing Mr Lewis of being a paedophile. At the end of the voicemail, Fogg also said 'I'm Paul Fogg, come and nick me'. A few months later, police did arrest him and he gave no comment under questioning. Fogg was later charged with two counts of sending an article conveying an offensive message which he pleaded guilty to in November last year.
'Jumped on the bandwagon'
At Wednesday's hearing, the court heard Fogg already had a previous conviction for malicious communications directed towards a work colleague dating back to 2013. Since the conviction, Fogg started his own asbestos removal business, earning around £50,000 in profit a year, but fell ill in 2023 and was forced to rely on benefits.
Defence counsel Ian Fisher said his client had been off work with sciatica and stomach acid issues, living at home alone, depressed, and mixing alcohol with his medication at the time of the messages. "It was all done on his mobile phone, on one day, and what appears to have stimulated this was a headline in a local newspaper," Mr Fisher argued.
The barrister said Fogg had reacted to the comments on the news report, then posted to his own Facebook wall, where he has fewer than 500 friends, before sharing to Mr Lewis' public wall. Staff from the office of Mr Lewis removed the posts, and made sure the MP never listened to the...
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