Man guilty of stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt

A man has been found guilty of stalking former Conservative leadership candidate Dame Penny Mordaunt.

However, Edward Brandt, 61, of Lymington, Hampshire, was cleared of the more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

The jury at Southampton Crown Court heard he sent multiple emails and phone messages to Dame Penny and also turned up at her Portsmouth office out of hours in a bid to meet her.

Dame Penny, who was an MP from 2010 to 2024, said in a statement to police that she "feared sexual violence" because of the defendant's "creepy" behaviour, the court heard.

The alleged offending occurred between 11 September 2023 and 12 May 2024.

Mr Brandt was arrested in March last year and given a conditional caution the following month, requiring him not to contact the Dame Penny, but he then left two voicemail messages for her.

In one of the messages, he said: "I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up."

The jury returned the guilty verdict by a majority of 10 to two.