A stalker was jailed for three years and banned from an entire Scottish town for a decade after threatening to commit violence at an MSP’s home.
James Lynn-Wilson was hit with a series of wide-ranging orders after a court rejected his own bizarre call for him to be sent for euthanasia on the basis his psychological condition – lack of empathy – is untreatable.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard Lynn-Wilson, 49, had made an “angry, erratic and abusive” call to Police Scotland and asked for the Chief Constable’s office, before making the threat.
A call handler said she “felt quite sick” after taking him to mean that he was going to take a gun to the address in Bridge of Allan, where Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr, originally lived.
Police were scrambled and Lynn-Wilson was arrested on a bus in Bonnybridge.
He walked towards a female officer, holding his hands in front of him as if expecting to be cuffed and repeating over and over again he was going to Mr Kerr’s address.
‘Euthanasia’ appeal
The incident, in July 2021, was the second time in seven months Lynn-Wilson had phoned the police, making threats to go to Mr Kerr’s house.
Police found Lynn-Wilson, “agitated and quite aggressive”, just two minutes’ walk from Mr Kerr’s home.
At a jury trial in March, Lynn-Wilson, of Denny, initially denied two charges of threatening and abusive behaviour but changed his plea to guilty.
Sentence was deferred for reports, which revealed a psychologist had found Lynn-Wilson had “no empathy”.
Lynn-Wilson, who represented himself, said: “They can’t fix that.”
He asked the court to impose a Mappa (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement) order or to arrange for him to be put to sleep – understood to be a reference to euthanasia.
He said: “I’ve got two options left to me.
“Give me back the Mappa or give me permission to go to Europe on a day appointed by the court and go for a long sleep indefinitely.”
‘Obsessive fixation’ on victim
Sheriff Simon Collins QC imposed the jail term and ordered him to be subject to social work supervision for 12 months after his release.
He also imposed a non-harassment order, forbidding him from approaching or contacting Mr Kerr or Mr Kerr’s wife for 10 years and forbidding him from entering the entire town of Bridge of Allan for the same period.
Sheriff Collins said: “I certainly cannot and will not authorise you to be removed to Europe to be put to a long sleep.
“Both these offences related to your continuing, and as far as I can see, obsessive, fixation on the harassment of Stephen Kerr and his family.
“It is a matter for which you were previously sentenced to 26 months’ imprisonment by the High Court.
“I’ve read the criminal justice social work report which suggests that you do not regret these offences and you have neither the intention nor the ability to modify your offending behaviour towards Mr Kerr and his family.
“You present a high risk of re-offending and a custodial sentence is inevitable, not just for punishment but for the protection of the public and Mr Kerr and his family.”
Mappa
He recommended on his release Lynn-Wilson should be subject to a Category 3 Mappa referral – reserved for dangerous offenders who have committed an offence in the past and who are considered to pose a risk of serious of harm to the public.
Mappa arrangements provide a framework where police, social work, and the prison service work together to share information and “ensure the successful management of violent offenders”.
The court heard Lynn-Wilson was on bail at the time of the incidents and had previously been jailed for stalking Mr Kerr, who is the former Conservative MP for Stirling as well as a current MSP.
The High Court in Glasgow, in 2016, heard there was a history of animosity by Lynn-Wilson, a former Mormon, towards Mr Kerr, who is from Dundee, after Lynn-Wilson was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2004 for “conduct unbecoming” towards the politician, a church elder.
