Court / Woman found guilty of threatening to stab MP

A WOMAN from Bressay has been found guilty of threatening to stab an MP and to put a brick through a parliamentary office window.

Clair Syme, 50, had denied making the threats at the Lerwick job centre on Commercial Road on 23 May of this year, and of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

But Syme – who represented herself – was found guilty following a short but tumultuous trial at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday morning.

Syme had been charged with threatening to stab local MP Alistair Carmichael.

But this element of the charge was deleted following a lack of evidence that it was specifically Carmichael that Syme was threatening.

She told the court: “I don’t even know your MP’s name.”

However, the court was shown bodycam footage taken by a security guard at the job centre in which Syme could be heard to shout and swear during a meeting with a member of staff.

Advertisement3 of 9

She was heard on the footage saying “he’s going to get a brick through his window”, and that an unnamed man was “loaded at my f*cking expense”.

The court was told that Syme had met a civil servant at the job centre for a meeting about work opportunities on the day of the incident.

A security guard at the building, giving evidence at court, said he overhead a threat about “stabbing” during the conversation, and so positioned himself to watch what was happening.

He also turned on his body-worn camera, to record the encounter.

Syme was “raising her voice” and “becoming quite animated”, the man said, and he added that he heard threats about putting a brick through a window.

On the video clip Syme could not be heard to make any threats about stabbing, but could be seen swearing and raising her voice.

The civil servant involved in the meeting also gave evidence, and asked how it had gone he replied: “Not as planned”.

Syme had “started having a rant”, he said, and had threatened to stab an MP.

He told the court he had taken this to mean Carmichael, who he said Syme had previously spoken about, and said he was concerned by what she was saying.

Under cross-examination from Syme, she asked the man if he felt threatened during the exchange.

“I felt nervous,” he replied.

She claimed she was not threatening Carmichael, but had been telling the civil servant to report an incident that she felt police had ignored for “seven years”.

Syme made repeated references to things she said had happened to her while working in London, which she claimed police and politicians had refused to deal with.

“These court cases are not about me, they are about Tony Blair – that’s what I was told,” she said.

Advertisement4 of 9

“This is the police in Lerwick creating this, this is the police in Lerwick doing this.

“There were no real genuine threats.”

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank, who repeatedly had to ask Syme to follow court procedure, to stop talking and at one point to stop laughing, asked her if she wanted to give evidence herself.

However Syme refused, saying instead that she just wanted “the police off my back”.

“They’ve made my life a living hell,” she added.

Summing up, procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said it was “entirely reasonable” for someone to have concerns about threats to MPs, given attacks on politicians in recent years.

Syme, responding, referenced again living in London and said that police in Lerwick had been “appalling” and a “bloody disgrace”.

She told the court she did not threaten Carmichael, claiming she did not even know his name.

Advertisement5 of 9

Sheriff Cruickshank said he found the evidence of the two witnesses to be “credible”.

However, he said he did not hear any evidence that led him to believe Syme was specifically targeting Carmichael.

He found Syme guilty of the charge of threatening and abusive behaviour, which she committed on 23 May when out on bail.

At that point Syme reacted angrily, swearing at people around her in the court and proclaiming “you legal sons of b*tches”.

She also told Sheriff Cruickshank: “The hate I feel towards you”.

The sheriff said he was deferring sentencing for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report, and offered Syme a psychiatric report – which she refused.

He warned Syme that she “better co-operate” with social work, and released her on bail in the meantime.

She will return for sentencing on 19 November.