Overview
- Harker, sentenced Tuesday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, received an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, a 20-day rehabilitation activity, a 12-month alcohol treatment program, and two five-year restraining orders that ban contact with Angela Rayner and Dorris Fortune.
- The case centered on four voicemails to Rayner’s Ashton-under-Lyne office on September 5, the day Rayner resigned over a stamp duty row, which threatened to kill her and her son and were traced to a phone registered to Harker’s address.
- In a separate incident on November 2, Harker delivered a handwritten note to Dorris Fortune that used slurs including “drop dead scrounger,” and a Ring doorbell camera recorded the drop-off.
- District Judge Briony Clarke said the abuse caused significant harm, cited Rayner’s public-facing role as an aggravating factor, and noted that Harker was drunk when she made the threats.
- Victim statements described distress and anxiety, while the court noted Harker’s remorse and Alcoholics Anonymous attendance, signaling a mix of protection for the victims and rehabilitation aimed at the root cause.