Security review after coroner kidnap attempt

Mark Christopher declared he was the chief judge when he entered courtroom two at Seax House

Security measures at a court have been reviewed after an "anti-establishment cult" attempted to kidnap a senior coroner.

Michelle Brown had been hearing an inquest at Essex Coroner's Court when the "conspiracy theory" group stormed the room last April.

The target of the plot, Lincoln Brookes, was not in the building but had been warned he faced corporal punishment from the would-be abductors.

Essex County Council, which runs the court, said it took security "very seriously" and a review had taken place.

Mark Christopher, 59, Matthew Martin, 47, Shiza Harper, 45, and Sean Harper, 38 – from Essex and east London – were found guilty of conspiring to kidnap and falsely imprison Mr Brookes at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.

Christopher, from Forest Gate, east London, was also convicted of sending a letter or email with intent to cause distress of anxiety.

They were members of the so-called Federal Postal Court, which had "self-conferred" legal powers they believed superseded UK law.

During the trial, Ms Brown, an area coroner, said she was with a colleague at Seax House, Chelmsford, when the group entered courtroom two.

Upon entering the room on 20 April 2023, the "cult" accused her of "interfering with the dead".

"I was very afraid. They clearly were not bothered by any authority," she told the jury.

"I said: 'You can have the court, take the court but please don’t hurt me, don’t hurt us – let us go'."

Married couple Sean and Shiza Harper were part of a group who planned to inflict "corporal punishment" on senior coroner Lincoln Brookes

Ms Brown pressed her panic alarm but said she was unsure if it had worked as it did not make a sound.

When a security guard entered the room some minutes later, a struggle broke out between him and Matthew Martin.

"I was not in a position to leave, I didn’t want to. Because there were four of them I did feel very vulnerable," Ms Brown added.

The court was told the group eventually left the building after not locating Mr Brookes, the county's senior coroner.

Martin was arrested at the scene, while Christopher and the Harpers were detained in Southend-on-Sea.

Matthew Martin was appointed as a sheriff for the online movement

A spokesman for Essex County Council said security "responded quickly" once the emergency alarm was activated.

"There have been a number of security reviews at Essex Coroner’s Court, including when the current courts were opened a few years ago and after this incident," he said.

The spokesman said the national legal requirement for open justice meant the public must be allowed to walk into court at any time "unimpeded".

"The coroner’s service has to work within this constraint," he added.