Four Reports Concerning Regina v Baron, Southwark Crown Court, (1997)

The four articles below were forwarded to me by a contact shortly after my acquittal. They sat in a file on my hard disk for nearly 14 years until they were published here on February 26, 2011. The last date the holding file was saved was May 17, 1997 (at 20.04hrs!), which is probably the day I received them. In all honesty I can’t remember who sent them to me; his identity is not important though I believe he was a Libertarian contact but certainly it was neither Chris Tame nor Sean Gabb. Obviously the person concerned had access to on-line databases.

The four articles are in chronological order, and found their way into various newspapers (see my bibliography for more details). Although they contain a number of errors - for example, my age is given as 44 instead of 40 - they are not wildly inaccurate.

The astute reader will observe that the little whore who tried to put me on the street was “left distressed” by the “threat” of herself being subjected to a criminal investigation, but this is typical of the lowlife trash who infest government bureaucracies at every level. Especially snoops and spies.


Subjects: STALKING Evening Standard Page 23 Press Association 22 Apr 97 Courts: Political Writer Threatened Woman Dss Official - Court Told (421) By MELVYN HOWE A political writer threatened to 'slit the throat' of a woman DSS official he blamed for stopping his benefit payments, a court heard today. ALEXANDER BARON, 44, who was being investigated by the civil servant for possible fraud, warned in a letter to Scotland Yard that he would kill her in 'broad daylight' for what she had done to him, it was claimed. After unearthing a significant amount of personal information about Rita Broadway, he branded her a 'liar, sadist and whore'. He warned his threat was not an idle one and said she would have to 'take the consequences' of her actions. Louise Kamill, prosecuting, told Southwark Crown Court that BARON had tried to 'obstruct, pervert and interfere' with the inquiry against him and get the DSS to restore his benefits. BARON, of Venner Road, Sydenham, south-east London, denies one count of intimidation in September last year and one of threatening to kill. The jury was told the background of the case involved a successful High Court libel action the defendant had brought against a number of people. BARON, said by counsel to be currently involved in similar litigation against Gerry Gable, editor of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, was eventually awarded damages. He subsequently announced his success in a press release and soon attracted the attention of his local DSS office. 'They were alerted to possible fraud and were interested that he had not declared winning all these damages,' said Miss Kamill. Two months later, in January 1996, his payments were suspended and a DSS investigation launched. Counsel told the jury that BARON then took the Government department to the High Court in an unsuccessful bid to get his payments restored. He also sent a letter to Mrs Broadway in which he warned her that unless he began receiving his benefits again she faced 'jail and fines' and would be 'dealt with for her illegal conduct'. At one point he wrote: 'Before you put me out on the street, I will put you out of a job and perhaps in jail.' Miss Kamill said the DSS investigator was left distressed by the threats. However, worse was to follow with the letter delivered to an officer at Scotland Yard. It revealed that BARON had managed to unearth a significant amount of personal information about the woman and then embroidered this with totally unfounded allegations about her. The trial was adjourned until tomorrow. Press Association Time 17:57 Press Association 23 Apr 97 Courts: My Stalking Nightmare, By Dss Woman (449) By MELVYN HOWE A benefits fraud investigator told a court today she suffered a nightmare 'stalking' ordeal at the hands of a social security claimant who threatened to 'slit her throat'. Rita Broadway said she was left feeling so 'intimidated' she was forced to take six months off work. 'I was in a dreadful, dreadful state,' she told Southwark Crown Court, south London. Mrs Broadway was giving evidence against political writer ALEXANDER BARON, 44, of Venner Road, Sydenham, south-east London, who denies 'obstructing, perverting and interfering' with her investigations in a bid to get his benefit payments restored. He has also pleaded not guilty to a 'threatening to kill' allegation last November. The jury has heard the Department of Social Security launched an investigation against him after learning he had failed to declare a High Court damages victory against a number of people connected with the anti-fascist publication Searchlight. They were tipped off by the magazine's editor Gerry Gable, who also told officials that BARON was allegedly making money writing political pamphlets at home. Louise Kamill, prosecuting, said that after learning of the DSS probe into his affairs, he first wrote to Mrs Broadway threatening her with 'jail and fines' if she did not halt her 'illegal conduct'. He then followed this up with a lengthy letter to Scotland Yard. It contained a warning that he would slit her throat in 'broad daylight', a threat taken all the more seriously because of a disturbing dossier of personal information that BARON had unearthed about the civil servant, the court was told. In a lengthy cross-examination, BARON, who is representing himself, questioned the woman about her dealings with Mr Gable. He accused her of telephoning the magazine editor to 'collude' over a statement she was about to make to the police. Miss Broadway said that was not true. 'He was the person who gave me the information,' she explained. Referring to Baron's letter to police, she added: 'I just needed to tell him that things were pretty desperate from where I was sitting.' He then asked: 'You say you are now in fear of your personal safety through me?' 'Yes,' she replied. 'I felt like I had been stalked. That is the way you made me feel.' She added her manager had become so concerned for her safety he gave her a mobile phone. 'He suggested I take it in case anything happened to me or my family. You said you had been thinking of stabbing me to death or cutting my throat, and you mentioned my family, one of my sons.' The trial was adjourned until tomorrow. Press Association Time 16:12 Evening Standard 23 Apr 97 'Stalker threatened to slit woman's throat' (272) THE nightmare of being stalked by a man who threatened to slit her throat led to civil servant Rita Broadway taking six months' sick leave, a jury heard today. She told them she 'was left in a dreadful, dreadful state' after being targeted by ALEXANDER BARON. Southwark Crown Court heard the mother became victim of the unwanted attentions of BARON after she was appointed to investigate his DSS benefit claims. Once payments were suspended and the probe launched, Mrs Broadway received a letter from BARON, 44, claiming the DSS was acting illegally. The political author warned he would take court action and Mrs Broadway would suffer the 'misfortunes' of being fired, fined or jailed . Mrs Broadway, who lives in South Norwood, said she found the correspondence threatening and 'distressing.' BARON is alleged to have also written to Scotland Yard threatening to kill Mrs Broadway 'in broad daylight' and repeating allegations the DSS was acting illegally. BARON included details of his victim's private life, the dossier convincing detectives the threat to kill her was real. Mrs Broadway said she was shown a copy of the papers and given a mobile phone by the DSS. 'My manager suggested I take it in case anything happened, anything happened to me or my family, ' she said. 'He had been thinking about stabbing me to death or cutting my throat. He mentioned my family and one of my sons.' BARON, of Vener Road, Sydenham, denies intimidating Mrs Broadway, and denies making a threat to kill her. The trial continues. Press Association 01 May 97 Courts: Writer Cleared Over 'Throat Slit' Threat (439) By MELVYN HOWE A right-wing political writer, who admitted telling police he was 'going to slit the throat' of a woman social security investigator, had not done anything wrong, a jury decided today. ALEXANDER BARON, 44, who maintained he had been the victim of a 'hate campaign' involving the civil servant and anti-fascist magazine editor Gerry Gable, almost collapsed with relief as he was cleared of intimidation and death threat charges. 'Thank you, thank you,' he told the six men and six women who had taken two days to find him not guilty. 'You have saved my life.' London's Southwark Crown Court heard the Department of Social Security stopped Baron's income support payments and launched a fraud investigation against him after learning he had allegedly failed to declare damages he won from a number of people connected with the anti-fascist publication Searchlight. They were tipped off by the magazine's editor, Mr Gable, who also claimed the writer had been making money publishing political pamphlets from his home. Upset at the DSS's move, BARON, of Venner Road, Sydenham, southeast London, wrote to social security investigator Rita Broadway, threatening her with 'jail and fines' if she did not halt her 'illegal conduct'. He followed this up with a lengthy letter to Scotland Yard. It contained a warning that he would 'slit her throat in broad daylight'. The civil servant told the court Baron's behaviour was tantamount to 'stalking' and left her so distressed and concerned for her safety that she had to take six months' sick leave from work. However, BARON denied his actions amounted to 'obstructing, perverting and interfering' with the DSS probe into his affairs. He had simply been trying to get justice. As for the so-called death threat, he explained: 'We all use strong words at times, strong language not to be taken seriously. 'I apologise to this court for using such strong language. I even apologise to Broadway in so far as she took these words literally.' But he said he would not apologise for his claims that he had been the victim of a 'hate campaign' and a 'contrived' prosecution that 'stunk to high heaven'. 'I believe Broadway acted improperly, cutting off my income support with malice, and horsetrading with Gable.' He said the 'serious allegations' he had made in his letters about the pair should have been investigated by the police. 'Some allegations do sound unbelievable, but look at Cromwell Street (the Gloucester home of mass murderers Frederick and Rosemary West). Who would have believed that there were nine bodies in there.' Press Association Time 16:18


Back To Other Contributors Index
Back To Site Index