ormer Well being Secretary Matt Hancock was left “shaken up” and “intimidated” after being confronted in Whitehall by an anti-vaccine protester accused of harassing him.
The MP for West Suffolk says he was shouted at by Geza Tarjanyi, 61, throughout two incidents in January, and claims he was “barged” as he walked to Parliament.
On the witness stand at Westminster magistrates court docket on Thursday morning, Mr Hancock stated: “In my time as a public determine, I can’t recall a time after I felt as intimidated as this.”
Tarjanyi filmed himself in two interactions with Mr Hancock, on January 19 and 24, at a time he was protesting in Whitehall towards pandemic insurance policies.
He’s accused of aggressively shouting “you murdered hundreds of thousands of individuals” on the MP, shoulder-barging him as they walked collectively in the direction of Parliament, and allegedly assaulting him for a second time throughout a confrontation on the Tube.
“Mr Tarjanyi pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the harassment of Matthew Hancock, which he knew or should have recognized to quantity to harassment to Mr Hancock”, stated prosecutor Nutan Fatania.
“Mr Tarjanyi accosted Mr Hancock as he was strolling in the direction of Parliament, making bodily contact with him and aggressively questioning him, and he was bodily abusive in the direction of him.”
Mr Hancock advised the court docket: “It made me really feel unsafe going about my regular workplace, it made me really feel pissed off that as an alternative of participating in regular debate, any person was making an attempt to intimidate me and I believed that was unacceptable.”
Of the January 24 incident, the prosecutor stated Tarjanyi “once more adopted Mr Hancock as he walked in the direction of Westminster London Underground station to get a practice. He additionally made bodily contact, he was shouting at him, and was verbally abusive to Mr Hancock.”
Mr Hancock stated it occurred shortly after he completed having breakfast with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Downing Avenue.
Tarjanyi, from Leyland in Lancashire, denies harassment. He says there was no deliberate bodily contact, he accuses the MP of barging into him, and denies his behaviour amounted to harassment.
The trial continues.
Supply hyperlink
