Birmingham man spared jail over threatening emails to Suella Braverman
He has been handed a suspended sentence
Last updated 4th Aug 2026
A former businessman who sent racially offensive and threatening emails to Reform UK MP Suella Braverman has been handed a suspended six-month jail sentence.
Jagjivan Ram, 65, pleaded guilty in February to two charges under the Malicious Communications Act, having sent two messages to former home secretary Ms Braverman during the summer of 2024, including a reference to lynching which left her “very upset and disturbed”.
Appearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Ram was told he would likely have been jailed if there had not been an 18-month delay in bringing his case to court.
District Judge David Wain accepted that Ram, of Waste Lane, Balsall Common, near Solihull, West Midlands, was in a poor state of health, and a report assessed that depressive symptoms and the side-effects of antibiotics may have played a role in his offending.
The court heard Ram used numerous racially offensive slurs and made sexual references in the messages, which he cannot remember writing.
Before passing sentence, District Juge Wain made clear that Ms Braverman, Reform UK’s education, skills and equalities spokeswoman, had exercised her right not to make a specific victim personal statement.
Ms Braverman, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville in Hampshire, defected from the Tories to Reform UK in January this year.
Ram, who is now unemployed and facing financial difficulties, was told his six-month sentence would be suspended for 12 months.
He was also made the subject of a 12-week electronically-monitored curfew, ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days, and handed a five-year restraining order banning him from making direct or indirect contact with Ms Braverman.
District Judge Wain told Ram, who has no previous convictions: “You have pleaded guilty to these offences at the first opportunity.
“In June 2024 you sent two emails of a threatening and racist nature to the Right Honourable Suella Braverman KC.
“You have heard the effect that had on her.
“MPs are real people with real families. They are not just people on television.
“In this case you were going through a difficult time but that does not in any way justify the behaviour shown.
“If this matter had appeared in front of me in 2024 you would likely have immediately gone to jail. However, for reasons which are unclear, it did not arrive in this court until 2026.”
Ram’s current financial circumstances were described in court as dire, and he had made a claim for benefits after recent surgery.
Offering mitigation on behalf of Ram, who told a previous hearing he had created thousands of jobs in the UK and overseas, defence lawyer Ed Ball said: “He doesn’t really remember what has occurred.
“He is thoroughly ashamed.”