Labour MP Stella Creasy said she was left feeling "like a human punch bag" after being harassed by a man on a London Underground train. Clifford Wilby, 63, of East London, was spared jail on Tuesday at Westminster Magistrates' Court following the incident on July 15 last year on a Victoria Line train between Walthamstow Central and Finsbury Park railway station.
Incident on the Victoria Line
Wilby saw the MP, blocked her ability to leave the Tube carriage, and began talking to her about knife crime and her "failings as a Member of Parliament", then filmed her, before members of the public intervened, the court heard previously. Other passengers asked him to stop and got in between them, before the Labour MP for Walthamstow left the carriage.
In a post on X ahead of the sentencing, Ms Creasy said: "Today a man who harassed me is being sentenced in court. He treated me like a human punch bag because he disagreed with my views."
Court Proceedings and Conviction
Deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikram found Wilby guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress last month. Wilby and Ms Creasy first met on a Zoom meeting in 2024 in Ms Creasy's capacity as an MP, which was ended due to Wilby's behaviour, Sarah Madden, prosecuting, said previously.
Ms Creasy, giving evidence from behind a screen, said during the online meeting he "made a series of very serious allegations", became abusive and "referred to the fact he had been diagnosed as a psychopath". She said he started to make a complaint about a constituent and she reminded him that she could not discuss somebody else's case.
Victim Impact and Sentencing
In a victim personal statement read by the prosecution, Ms Creasy said: "Being in an enclosed underground train carriage with someone who is angry and aggressive brings out every survival instinct. His conduct was not only intimidating on that day but also formed part of a wider pattern of behaviour." She added that she still finds herself feeling anxious, particularly when travelling alone on the Underground, and she now deliberately sits as close to the doors as possible.
Ms Creasy said when the defendant produced his phone she became concerned he was "seeking to provoke a reaction and create a spectacle". She also said she was frightened for the people who stepped in to help her. She added: "I firmly believe it was only because of my constituents' intervention that Mr Wilby was prevented from taking his behaviour further."
District judge Robert Brown sentenced Wilby to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and told him to complete 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and to pay £100. He also made a restraining order for five years, and told Wilby he cannot contact Ms Creasy directly or indirectly; he cannot enter Orford Road, E17; he cannot post about Ms Creasy on social media or online; and he cannot enter the Walthamstow Labour Party constituency office.
During the sentencing, Wilby repeatedly said "liar" from the dock as Nia King, prosecuting, outlined the background of the case. He was told "you will be quiet" by District Judge Brown.
Tess McCarthy, defending, said after Ms Creasy left the train, Wilby did not follow her or continue any form of communication. She also said he is homeless and is suffering from mental health difficulties.
Mr Brown said: "I don't accept for a minute that this was a coincidental meeting, for whatever reason you've had your eye on Stella Creasy for some time and decided to make life difficult for her." He added: "What's most worrying about it, is at this time, when many people are critical of the standard of our public representatives, we're looking to encourage people to come forward and serve the public... your kind of behaviour will just put them off. And that's really was important in my view as the effect it had on this individual Member of Parliament."
