Man is jailed for sending drunken anti-Semitic texts to city MP Sobel

A 61-year-old man who sent a series of drunken anti-Semitic messages to a Leeds MP has been jailed.

- by Alex Grant

Kevin Smith, 61, has been jailed for sending anti-Semitic texts to Leeds MP Alex Sobel, pictured.

Kevin Smith looked confused and said "I don't believe this" as he was led to the cells after being sentenced to eight weeks in prison at Leeds Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

District Judge David Kitson outlined how Smith sent voice messages and 300 text messages to the constituency office of Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel between March 6 and March 15 2024.

The judge said the voice messages were "just generally unpleasant and offensive", but many of the text messages included phrases like "kill the Jews" and "kill all the Jews, they should be arrested for war crimes".

Judge Kitson noted how Smith told arresting police officers he was exercising his freedom of speech.