Man jailed for threatening British Indian ex-minister Priti Patel

The man who threatened former British India minister Priti Patel has been sentenced to prison
London, May 1 (PTI) A 65-year-old man has been sentenced to five months in prison for sending a threatening letter to former home secretary Priti Patel, who admitted sending a highly offensive letter to the Indian-origin former minister at trial. .

Pooneeraj Canakiah was sentenced by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London last week.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England said the letter to Patel, which was handwritten as a “personal letter”, was opened by one of his staff on January 22 last year when he was home secretary. .

Patel did not personally see the letter, and forensic testing was used to trace the author.

“The content of the letter was very offensive and wrong. Canakiah thought he would not be caught, however, forensic analysis proved he wrote the letter,” said senior Crown prosecutor Lauren Doshi from the Crown Prosecution Service’s complex casework unit in south London.

“This conviction and sentence sends a clear message that threats like this are taken very seriously and will not be tolerated. The CPS will not hesitate to pursue these types of crimes whenever our legal test meets them,” he said.

Forensic tests revealed that Canakiah had written the letter to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (TVLA) on the paper used for the letter to Patel.

Analysis of the indentations on the paper revealed Canakiah name and address, and further analysis of the envelope and handwriting of the letter proved him to be the author.

When interviewed by police, Canakiah – a health department worker from east London – denied writing the letter but eventually pleaded guilty to one count of sending an indecent or offensive message in March last year. PTI