Hartlepool Veteran Found Guilty of Sending Menacing Message to Labour MP Jonathan Brash
- teessidetoday
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
The 55-year-old father of two from Hartlepool, accepted sending the message to the Labour Party MP which included the phrase: “If I see you you better run”...
4th November 2025
An Army veteran has been found guilty of sending a menacing message to Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash via Facebook causing him 'Alarm or Distress'.
Dean Rusk was fined and ordered to pay substantial costs, following the court's decision that the message was intended to cause fear to the town MP..
The 55-year-old father of two from West View Road, Hartlepool accepted sending the message which included the phrase: “If I see you you better run”. The message was reportedly sent amidst a series of Facebook communications to the town MP, in which Rusk expressed his anger regarding Labour's policies affecting pensioners and veterans.
During the trial, Rusk, who served in the British Army for over 20 years, stated he did not intend the message as a physical threat but rather wanted to "give him a piece of my mind". His defence highlighted his service history, which left him with partial deafness and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), suggesting his strong reaction was partly due to these experiences.
But District Judge Helen Cousins sitting at Teesside Court determined that the message was "intended that Mr Brash had something to fear". She also referenced the current climate for Members of Parliament, noting the recent murders of two MP's while performing their constituency duties.
Mr. Brash claimed the message caused him "a great deal of upset," leading him to forward the communication on to his office manager who then contacted the police.
Rusk was found guilty of one charge of sending a menacing message by public communications network. He received a fine of £466 and was ordered to pay £650 in court costs, along with a £186 victim surcharge.
The case comes as its been reported that in 2024, police made over 12,000 arrests for "offensive" online communications, which is an average of more than 30 per day. These arrests are based on laws such as the Communications Act 2003 and can result from messages that cause annoyance, inconvenience, or anxiety, however critics claim the laws are being abused by many to silence dissent & in more extreme cases prosecute freedom of speech...
Its also been found that a similar case reported to Cleveland Police in 2024 was logged as 'no action to be taken', when a similar case was reported to the police regarding threatening messages sent from one individual to another through posts published by a Local Newspaper on their social media page, raising claims once more of "Two Tier Policing" being alive and well on Teesside...
