A self-styled “Muslim Slayer” has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison. This comes after David Parnham, 36, sent fake poison to The Queen with a letter saying “The Clowns R Coming 4 You.”
In the past, Parnham has sent similar notes to former PM Theresa May and two bishops. A “Punish a Muslim Day” hate mail was also sent by Parnham, encouraging people to attack and kill Muslims.
The Lincoln native must serve his sentence in a hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to prison. He admitted 15 offences including soliciting to murder, making hoaxes involving noxious substances and bombs and, sending letters with intent to cause distress.
Parnham’s charges are related to hundreds of letters that were penned between June 2016 and June 2018. When sentencing the IT systems analyst, Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: “You have yet to appreciate the seriousness of what you have done and seem to want to return to the community at the earliest opportunity to live with your parents.”
The judge said Parnham has failed to appreciate the harm he’s caused to the Muslim and wider community, meaning there was a greater risk of him reoffending.
Judge Leonard believes Parnham is on the autism spectrum, but he rejected the suggestion that he may have been psychotic at the time of his offences.
His hoax letter to The Queen had triggered a Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) response. Letters to Mrs May and the two bishops had contained white powder and made an apparent reference to reports of attacks from people dressed as clowns.
In 2018, Parnham had sent more than 300 letters to mosques and public figures calling for the attacks as part of “Punish a Muslim Day.”
In February 2017, Parnham sent a letter to the Berkeley Street Mosque in Hull. The letter contained a drawing of a sword with a swastika on it cutting someone’s head off, reading, “You are going to be slaughtered very soon.”
The author signed off the letter as the “Muslim Slayer.”
