Former councillor Edward Brandt has been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for staking the former Conservative minister Penny Mordaunt, leaving her in fear of sexual violence. The 61-year-old professional sailor was convicted of stalking but acquitted of a more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
The court heard that between 11 September 2023 and 12 May 2024, Brandt sent at least 17 emails and three voicemail messages to Mordaunt and turned up at her Portsmouth constituency office out of hours. In a victim impact statement, Mordaunt said she was 'completely exhausted' and 'feared sexual violence' because of his 'creepy' behaviour.
Brandt was also sentenced for seven breaches of a stalking protection order, in place until November 2034, by failing to notify police of devices capable of connecting to the internet and of creating accounts on Facebook and Snapchat. He received 12 weeks for the stalking offence and eight weeks for the breaches, to be served consecutively.
Sentencing Brandt at Southampton Crown Court, Judge Mousley said: 'I am satisfied that there is a real risk of you reoffending or causing harm to other people... the appropriate punishment must be by way of immediate imprisonment.' Brandt, of Lymington, Hampshire, had previously failed to comply with a verbal police warning and a conditional caution requiring him to complete a victim awareness course and not to contact Mordaunt.
In one voicemail, Brandt told Mordaunt: 'I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up.' He claimed his intention was 'entirely political and entirely harmless' and that he wanted to 'congratulate her'. The court heard he had been diagnosed with ADHD and autism, and his barrister argued that his responsibility was 'substantially reduced' due to his neurodiverse condition.
