‘Cult’ members jailed over coroner kidnap plot

Members of an “anti-establishment cult” have been jailed for up to seven years for storming a court with handcuffs and trying to kidnap a coroner.

Mark Christopher, 59, led the group that tried to shut down Essex Coroner’s Court in Chelmsford having accused senior coroner Lincoln Brookes of “interfering with the dead” in April 2023.

Matthew Martin, 47, Sean Harper, 38, and his wife Shiza, 45, were part of the group and believed they could overrule the UK judicial system.

All four were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court having been convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

Christopher, of Claremont Road, Forest Gate, east London was also found guilty of sending a letter or email with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

He was jailed for seven years, while Sean and Shiza Harper, of Benfleet Park Road, South Benfleet in Essex, and Martin, of Evelyn Denington Road, Plaistow in east London, were given 30-month sentences.