A former councillor accused of stalking senior Conservative MP Dame Penny Mordaunt told a court he visited her constituency office to 'commiserate with her for not getting the top job'. Edward Brandt, 60, is standing trial at Southampton Crown Court, denying a charge of stalking the former Defence Secretary.
The Alleged Stalking Campaign
The court heard that Brandt's alleged campaign of harassment took place between September 11, 2023, and May 12, 2024. The prosecution detailed how Brandt, who was living on the Isle of Wight at the time, sent multiple emails and phone messages to Ms Mordaunt. He also turned up at her Portsmouth office outside of normal hours in a persistent bid to meet her.
Brandt, a professional sailor and former member of East Hampshire District Council, told jurors his interest was 'entirely political and entirely harmless'. He explained he wanted to meet Dame Penny to 'commiserate with her for not getting the top job in the autumn', adding he believed she would have been prime minister if she had succeeded.
A Pattern of Persistent Contact
Despite his claims of harmless intent, the court was told Brandt failed to comply with the terms of a conditional caution issued to him in April 2024. This caution required him to complete a victim awareness course and not to contact the MP. He was later made subject to an interim stalking protection order issued at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on July 16, 2024.
Brandt, who said he has been diagnosed with ADHD and is on the autism spectrum, claimed he had not received replies from Dame Penny's office about his meeting requests. 'I wasn't getting a reply, I harmlessly kept trying,' he told the court. After his arrest on March 24, 2024, and the subsequent conditional caution, he left two further voicemail messages for her on May 6 and 11, 2024.
In one of these messages, he stated: 'I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up.'
Impact on the Victim and the Defence
In a police statement read to the court, Dame Penny said she 'feared sexual violence' due to what she described as the defendant's 'creepy' behaviour. She testified that compared to previous threats, including one to shoot her and her family, Brandt's communications were 'easier to deal with' because they were 'constantly present'.
Brandt denied any threatening behaviour, insisting there were no 'threats of physical violence or sexual misconduct' in his communications. He stated, 'She is flattering herself, frankly,' and expressed being 'so upset how she unbelievably misunderstood me'. He added, 'I am deeply sorry about it, if I had any idea she was going through this I would have stopped dead.'
The defendant, a divorced father of two who now lives in Lymington, Hampshire, denies the stalking charge. The trial continues.
