A man has been given a suspended prison sentence for sending racist death threats to former prime minister Rishi Sunak. Liam Shaw, 21, from Birkenhead, was sentenced to 14 weeks' imprisonment suspended for 12 months at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Shaw sent two threatening and offensive emails to Sunak's public email address on June 15 last year when the former Conservative leader was still prime minister. The Crown Prosecution Service said the language in the emails was "racist, offensive and suggested Mr Sunak should be killed by the public".
Investigation and arrest
The emails were spotted by Sunak's personal assistant and reported to police. Officers traced the messages to Shaw's phone and a hostel where he was staying in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
Shaw was arrested on September 3, 2024, and charged with two counts of sending by a public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, or menacing message. When confronted with the allegations, Shaw told police: "I don't even remember sending an email. I was probably drunk."
Court proceedings and sentence
Shaw pleaded guilty to both counts at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on July 10, 2025. The court sentenced him to 14 weeks' imprisonment for both counts, to run concurrently, with the sentence suspended for 12 months.
As part of his sentence, Shaw must complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and a six-month drug rehabilitation course. The court also imposed a two-year restraining order preventing Shaw from having any contact with Sunak or his constituency office.
Democratic principles at stake
District Judge Timothy Boswell emphasised the seriousness of the offence during sentencing. "Direct access to your constituency MP is a cornerstone of democracy," he said. "Misusing that access is detrimental to the democratic process. Clearly it is a highly aggravating factor for the offence."
Senior Crown prosecutor Matthew Dixon, of CPS Mersey Cheshire, highlighted the broader implications of the case. "Liam Shaw took to his phone that night to send racist and threatening messages to a person in an extremely important public office," he said. "The work of Members of Parliament is extremely important and the police and the Crown Prosecution Service play their part in keeping them safe and able to do their work without fear."
Dixon emphasised the balance between protecting free speech and preventing criminal behaviour. "The Crown Prosecution Service has always and will continue to safeguard a person's right to freedom of expression. But this is clearly a case where the comments made were utterly beyond the boundary of what is tolerable in a fair, just and multi-racial society, and passed into the realm of criminality. Racist abuse has no place, anywhere, in this day and age."
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
