"Creep” found guilty of stalking ex-Portsmouth MP Dame Penny Mordaunt

Warped stalker Edward Brandt, who lived on the Isle of Wight during the alleged offending but who now lives in Lymington, has been found guilty at Southampton Crown Court of stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt but not guilty of stalking involving serious alarm or distress. He will now be sentenced in due course.

“Obsessed” Brandt, 61, sent multiple emails and phone messages to the former Portsmouth North MP and also turned up at her Portsmouth office at Lakeside, North Harbour, out of hours in a bid to meet her - jumping a security gate before he was apprehended by security, jurors previously heard.

An emotional Dame Penny told the court earlier this week: “I believe this man was a real threat to me…and still is.” The 52-year-old said she feared “sexual violence” because of the defendant’s “creepy” behaviour, with him also referencing where she lived.

She said: “He wants to meet me after hours, the way he is talking about my physical appearance and so forth, it’s clear that this is not a normal pattern of behaviour.”

Brandt, a former councillor for East Hampshire District Council, failed to comply with terms of the conditional caution issued in April 2024 including a requirement to complete a victim awareness course and not to contact her, the trial heard.

The defendant, who worked as a professional sailor, was also made subject to an interim stalking protection order at Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court on July 16, 2024.

Brandt, a Conservative member, told the court he had a passion for politics and wanted to show Dame Penny support after she lost the Tory party’s leadership contest. He said: “I wanted to commiserate with her for not getting the top job in the autumn, I think she would still have been prime minister if she had.

“I wanted to congratulate her because she was a reforming leader of the Commons, I wanted to congratulate her on the coronation, chat to her about her time in office, have her sign a copy of her book. It was entirely political and entirely harmless.”

Brandt left two voicemail messages for her on May 6 and 11 and in one of the messages, he said: “I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up.”

He told the court that there were no “threats of physical violence or sexual misconduct” in his emails or messages and added: “She is flattering herself, frankly.”

He said: “It was nothing more than meeting her on a peaceful basis, I am just not like that. I was so upset how she unbelievably misunderstood me, I wanted to set the record straight, I wanted to clear the air.”