A PENSIONER has been found guilty of sending a menacing email to a range of legal officials including Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne.

John Hoath, 74, of Lewes, East Sussex, sent a message which suggested Sussex Police officials were helping people to evade justice, Wimbledon Magistrates' Court heard.

He also threatened to carry out a citizens arrest on those he contacted if they did not surrender to him within seven days.

Hoath was convicted of sending an electronic message of a menacing character.

His email was sent on July 9 2019, to two Sussex Police solicitors, the forces' Professional Standards Department and the office of the Sussex PCC.

Ms Bourne, who gave evidence by video link, said the email was "entirely alarming", adding she has "sleepless nights" and that it is "the kind of allegation that looses you your job," district judge Andrew Sweet said.

The judge said he was satisfied the email message "was not a joke" and it was "meant to be taken seriously".

The married mother of two adult sons was elected as the Sussex PCC in November 2012, with the aim of holding the Chief Constable to account for the performance of the force.

Ms Bourne, who is a member of the Government's National Policing Board, was elected as chairman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners around two weeks after the incident.

Solicitor Gillian Jones said she had endured a long campaign of harassment from Hoath and his associates which has left her suffering from severe post traumatic stress disorder and damaged her work.

Ms Jones said she has been "bullied" online and has been called a "bitch" and a "prostitute" in a range of slurs which have caused "a great deal of upset and fear".

In her victim impact statement, Ms Jones also said she is "scared" of Hoath and his associates who threaten and challenge her professionalism.

It has ensured she is not able to do her job "without fear, intimidation or protection."

She said her ordeal has lasted for years and that Hoath has shown "a clear disregard for everything" he has done to her.

She suffers from nose bleeds triggered by anxiety, panic attacks, "terrible" nightmares and her son who has Asperger's syndrome "can not understand why that man is hurting mummy".

Hoath denied he had intended any malice.

The judge warned Hoath that he could face jail as he conditionally bailed him to return to the same court for sentencing on February 27.