Matthew Niblett phoned Smyth’s office in Bristol repeatedly one night in runup to election because of her campaign leaflets

A man has been jailed after threatening to kill a Labour candidate during the general election campaign. Matthew Niblett phoned Karin Smyth’s office in Bristol seven times in one hour because he had taken exception to her campaign leaflets.

He left messages in the early hours of 3 June claiming he would kill Smyth, who was re-elected on 8 June, and saying that he hoped that she would get stabbed in the street or caught in a bomb blast. Niblett was jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to one count of harassment without violence.

Judge Lynne Matthews said: “As a nation, we enjoy informed debate. We can protest, we can march in the street. But what we’re not free to do is the harassment of our politicians. That’s where we draw the line.”

The judge also made reference to the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox in June last year. “We only have to consider what happened to Jo Cox to understand how your actions would have caused distress to Ms Smyth and those who work in her office,” Matthews said. “You have shown no regard for the anxiety you cause to others.”

The judge was told that Niblett, from Hartcliffe, south Bristol, had a longstanding issue with Smyth because he felt she had not properly investigated a case involving him. His lawyer, Jane Taylor, dismissed his calls to Smyth’s office as the “drunk ramblings” of a man with mental health and anger management issues.

Taylor said it was clear her client had absolutely no intention of harming any member of the Labour party. Niblett interjected: “I’ve been doing this for years and years and nobody’s died, have they?”

In a victim statement, Smyth, who doubled her Bristol South majority at the election, said she felt sad for Niblett and had been worried for the safety of her staff.

Niblett was also given a seven-year restraining order preventing him from going near or contacting Smyth or the offices of the Bristol South Labour party in Bedminster.