Lord Alan Sugar
(Picture: PA)Lord Alan Sugar was left looking over his shoulder in fear and concerned about the safety of his family after receiving anti-Semitic abuse and threats from a pensioner who dubbed himself “Stan the Jew Hater”, a court heard.
The businessman and star of The Apprentice was targeted by 70-year-old Patrick Gomes who sent three hate-filled letters to his business premises in Loughton, Essex, marking one as “fan mail”.
Gomes said he dreamed of “putting all Jews in detention camps and kicking them out of the country”, referring to Lord Sugar as a “f***nasty Jew” and sharing his ambition to “rid” Britain of “filth Jews”.
In the third letter, Gomes wrote: “We might drop by and pay you a visit, shove your head in a hot oven. We call it baking Jewish bread.”
Chelmsford crown court heard Gomes had been driven to contact Lord Sugar after the businessman had commented on allegations of anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.
In a victim impact statement, Lord Sugar said the letters left him feeling “extremely scared and upset”, as well as fearful about telling his family about the abuse and threats.
“The whole incident has shaken me up”, he said. “I’m now always looking over my shoulder in case someone is physically close to me and about to attack me or my family”, he said.
Gomes was convicted of racially aggravated harassment at a trial last November, and was jailed for 42 months by Judge Timothy Walker.
“Your conduct was plainly designed to maximise fear and distress”, said the judge. “I’m satisfied Lord Sugar was caused very serious distress, and reading your letters it’s not difficult at all to see why that was caused.”
Concluding that Gomes has “entrenched anti-Semitic views”, the judge said: “The comments you made were both frightening and deeply offensive to Lord Sugar and will be so to the wider Jewish community as a whole.
“Society won’t tolerate behaviour such as yours - you sought to put him in fear of violence because he is Jewish. Anti-Semitism is an evil and courts will impose tough penalties to reflect society’s abhorrent of such crimes.”
Lord Sugar’s assistant opened the letters from Gomes, with the first sent in October 2018 along with a second duplicate.
“They were grossly offensive in their nature and grossly offensive in relation to Lord Sugar’s Jewish faith”, said prosecutor Adam Pearson.
“They contained anti-Semitic slurs in the most grossly offensive terms.”
The prosecutor said the first letter “began by making reference to comment made by Lord Sugar in the context of anti-Semitic allegations in the Labour Party. They referred to his Jewish faith in the most offensive terms.
“While saying there was no anti-Semitic element within the Labour party, the author of the letter said he was himself a ‘Jew hater’.”
After a stream of abuse, Gomes wrote that he “wished he had the power to put all Jews in detention camps and kick them out of the country”, signing off the letter as “Stan the Jew hater”.
In a third letter on December 21, 2018, which was also opened by Lord Sugar’s assistant, Gomes wrote: “Welcome to hell, I’m the biggest f***Jew hater in the whole of Britain.”
Gomes’ DNA was found on the seal of the letter, allowing police to trace him, and he had also left a palm print on the envelope.
The court heard the pensioner has become increasingly isolated after retiring five years ago, and his mother died shortly before he was due to go on trial.
He offered an apology to the court after failing to turn up to his trial, and also apologised to a police officer who he had accused of running a politically-driven investigation. But Gomes did not apologise to Lord Sugar.
He was convicted in his absence of religiously-aggravated harassment, putting those targeted in fear of violence, and has been held in custody since early December last year.
In a statement after the conviction, Lord Sugar said: “I would like to pass on my sincere gratitude to the police for their assistance in this case.
“I have to be honest, I was reluctant to pass this matter on to the police as they are already stretched and have enough on their plates dealing with serious crimes.
“I would like to thank them sincerely for helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable and that racism or any form of discrimination is simply not acceptable.”
Gomes refused to accept the verdict of the jury. He is now banned under a restraining order from contacting Lord Sugar.
