‘Cult’ members who plotted to kidnap Essex coroner jailed

Members of a “cult” who believed they could overrule the judicial system have been jailed after storming a court armed with a pair of handcuffs in a failed attempt to kidnap and falsely imprison a senior coroner.

Lincoln Brookes, the senior coroner for Essex and target of the four-strong group’s botched kidnap attempt, told Chelmsford crown court that he regularly had nightmares about the incident.

He was not present when the group turned up at the coroner’s court in Chelmsford last April wearing hi-vis jackets. They entered a room where another coroner was conducting documentary inquests, demanded to know where Brookes was and said they were shutting down the court.

The judge Justice James Goss said all four were members of a group called the Federal Postal Court, or the Court for the People, which had “self-conferred” powers. In July, the prosecutor Allister Walker had called the group an “anti-establishment protest, cult or conspiracy theory”.

Mark Christopher, 59, was described as the “self-appointed leader” who went by the title of Chief Judge of England and All Dominions.

Matthew Martin, 47, was a sheriff and coroner, Sean Harper, 38, was a sheriff, and his wife, Shiza Harper, 45, was a postal inspector for the group, the judge said, with all three “qualified by” Christopher.

The judge said Christopher “lay at the very heart of these offences” as he jailed him for seven years. He said Martin, Harper and Harper “were prepared to commit offences while doing his bidding” and jailed them for 30 months each.

The Essex area coroner Michelle Brown told an earlier trial that the group came into her courtroom. She said the leader, Christopher, “kept demanding that I find and get Mr Brookes”.

Brookes told the earlier trial that he received a series of “very bizarre” letters in 2022 and then emails in April 2023 stating that “corporal punishment may be administered”. He described the emails, which claimed to be warrants “for seizure of goods and persons”, as “troubling” and “upsetting”.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by Walker on Monday, he said: “I regularly have nightmares about the incident and the suspects attending my home.”

Brookes said he had had “initial trauma therapy” and was now “hyper-vigilant about the safety of my family and myself”.

He said he had been driving to the court, having accompanied a family member to a hospital appointment that morning, when he received a call about what had happened and he turned around.

Brookes said he was warned not to come to the building and was told: “These are the people from the letter – they’re coming to get you.”

He said he had flashbacks of the journey home and at the time had been “wondering if the cars around me were following me or trying to beat me to my house”.

Brown told the court on Monday “I do believe I will never feel safe … I wake up at night thinking I can hear someone trying to get in, then I sit up all night.”

Christopher, of Forest Gate, east London, Martin, of Plaistow, east London, and the Harpers, of South Benfleet, Essex, denied conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment but were all found guilty on both counts after a two-week trial.

Christopher was also found guilty of sending threatening letters to Brookes with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

Martin, who represented himself, said he was “here to save younglings” and that “we find younglings tied up in places like underneath Asda supermarkets”.

DCI Nathan Hutchinson, of Essex police, said afterwards: “Whilst we appreciate freedom of opinion, this group’s ideologies are nothing more than nonsensical intimidation and oppression with no regard for the law.

“Christopher told the group that they could take control of an active court, make arrests and threaten public servants who were just trying to do their job supporting the people of Essex.”