'Cult' members guilty of trying to kidnap coroner

Members of an "anti-establishment cult" who stormed into a court with handcuffs have been found guilty of trying to kidnap a coroner.

Mark Christopher, 59, Matthew Martin, 47, Shiza Harper, 45, and Sean Harper, 38, wanted to "shut down" Essex Coroner's Court and abduct senior coroner Lincoln Brookes in April 2023.

They were part of a "conspiracy theory" group who believed they could overrule the judicial system in England and Wales, a trial heard.

All four have been found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

Christopher was also found guilty of sending a letter or email with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

Martin was cleared of assault by beating and criminal damage by the jury.

The defendants, from Essex and east London, will be sentenced in September, Mr Justice Goss said.

Giving evidence during the eight-day trial, Mr Brookes said the plot left him "fearful for the safety of my family".

He "started driving home as fast as I could" upon being told the group had entered Courtroom 2 at Seax House, Chelmsford, while he was on his way there.

Allister Walker, prosecuting, told jurors it was only "by chance" that a last-minute family matter had delayed Mr Brookes’s arrival at work.

'Conspiracy theory'

Det Ch Insp Nathan Hutchinson said it had been an "intimidating and traumatising ordeal" for all involved.

"The ideologies of this group were concerning and they genuinely believed that they had the power to construct their own legal system, threaten others and were above English law," he said.

The defendants were part of an online subscription-based movement called the Federal Postal Court, which had self-conferred legal powers, the trial heard.

Christopher, from Forest Gate, east London, was the chief judge, with Martin and Sean Harper his sheriffs and Shiza Harper a "postal inspector".

Mr Walker said they had a "significant following" online and described the group as an "anti-establishment protest, cult or conspiracy theory".

The defendants told the trial that Christopher, who sold online courses for thousands of pounds, was their "teacher" and they were his students – and that the allegations had been "blown way out of proportion".

Mr Brookes said he was alerted to them entering Essex Coroner’s Court by his colleague, area coroner Michelle Brown, who told him "they are coming to get you".

"Because of what she said I turned around and started driving home as fast as I could because I was fearful for the safety of my family," he said.

Becoming tearful in the witness box, he added: "I pulled over, in fact, because I was a bit upset."

Coroners' Society Lincoln BrookesCoroners' Society

The group said corporal punishment could have been administered "on the spot" to Lincoln BrookesMs Brown, who was in the middle of an inquest hearing when the group entered the court, said they accused her of "interfering with the dead".

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

The incident followed Mr Brookes being sent a series of letters between March 2022 and April 2023, accusing him of being a "detrimental necromancer" who must face corporal punishment.

"I thought this was odd, to say the least," Mr Brookes said.

Representing himself during the trial, Sean Harper, from South Benfleet, Essex, said the group had been in Chelmsford to "shed light" on "fraudulent" activities taking place at the court.

"There was no violence from us, we wasn’t there to be violent – we do everything by the pen,” he said.

His wife, Shiza Harper, said they did not want to create "animosity" or "friction" – they intended to "stop the fraud".

Martin, from Plaistow, east London, claimed to have been acting with King Charles III’s approval to tackle "state child trafficking".

Christopher declined to give evidence.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.