A UK trans activist found guilty of sending threatening messages to author JK Rowling and Labour MP Rosie Duffield has now been sentenced. Glenn Mullen, 31, avoided jail as his eight-week prison sentence was suspended for two years.
Mullen, a Manchester-based trans activist, was arrested and charged with issuing violent threats to the two women which he sent in January of last year. Reduxx were among the first to identify Mullen, and immediately sent the details of his identity to Police Scotland once aware of them.
While police initially refused to comment on his arrest, they later confirmed that Mullen was behind a series of violent messages sent from a social media account named “gaymon de vaslayra.”
The threats were issued just ahead of a planned women’s rights demonstration in Glasgow, and included Mullen posting audio recordings of himself threatening the women in the Gaelic language. X users translated the audio, revealing the nature of the threats.
In one audio, Mullen threatened Member of Parliament Rosie Duffield, making a statement which was roughly translated to: “I am going to see Rosie Duffield at the bar with a big gun. I hate her so much. Many thanks.”
Mullen sent additional verbal audio threats to Harry Potter author JK Rowling, where he similarly spoke in Gaelic and said: “I’m going to kill JK Rowling with a big hammer. JK Rowling is very horrible, and I hate her so much.”
It has now been reported that Mullen has claimed that he posted the messages in Gaelic as he thought “nobody would be able to read them.”
During journalistic investigations into the identity of the source of the frightening messages, Reduxx revealed Mullen’s frequent targeting of women who held views critical of gender ideology.
Reduxx has learned the identity of the trans activist behind the chilling death threats issued to JK Rowling, MP Rosie Duffield, and Posie Parker.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) January 21, 2023
The information was passed on to Police Scotland.https://t.co/hkCZVOJVUH
Among them, Mullen had posted fantasies to social media involving multiple women, including Kellie-Jay Keen Minshull (aka Posie Parker), being hit car at a Standing For Women event in Glasgow. In posts sent from the same account as the ones targeting JK Rowling, Mullen stated:
“I sure would HATE it if someone took their car to glasgow and hit p*sie p*rker and friends with their car! What an awful thing it would be, that I would hate! Me watching the country’s leading defenders of women and girls exploding like bin bags full of baked beans on your windshield:oh no!” [typos Mullen’s own].
It is unclear if these other messages were part of the police charges.
Following his arrest, JK Rowling described to a court that in wake of the messages she had to increase her personal security, with the “credible” threats prompting her to “look over her shoulder and worry for the safety of her family and children.”
Rowling has also been reported as telling the court that Mullen “seems to pride himself and be proud of himself over the threats of violence he is making.”
The threats also took a toll on Rosie Duffield, who is the Labour MP for Canterbury. Duffield explained the impact the threats had on her to the court, noting that she felt “nervous” carrying out her duties in public. The prosecutor in the case detailed the fear, stating: “[Duffield] feared that someone would act with hostility or violence, causing her great concern.”
Mullen admitted to the two charges of conveying threatening messages, contrary to the Malicious Communications Act. After Mullen was bailed for sentencing, Westminster chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said that Mullen would get credit for his early guilty plea, but declined to remand him to immediate custody.
Goldspring ultimately agreed that the threats occurred in “isolation,” and that Mullen had “strong views about gender equality. Quite appropriately so.”
Hours ago, a release from the Cyber/Online Crime unit at the Crown Prosecution Service announced Mullen’s sentence of eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years. This means Mullen will not serve any immediate jail time, and will simply have conditions he is expected to abide by within the two year period. If he is found in violation, he may have to serve his sentence in prison.
Mullen was also given a 12-month Community Order with 150 hours unpaid work and 20 Rehabilitation days. Additionally, he was financially penalized and ordered to pay “£85 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.”
The suspended nature of the sentence may be linked to the judge saying in a pre-sentencing report that Mullen poses no danger to the public.
It is reported that following Mullen’s arrest, he was fired from his job but has since been hired for a £30,000 per year marketing job in Manchester.
In their release, the Crown Prosecution Service quoted John Moran, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, who stated: “The messages uploaded to social media were targeted and very concerning. The audio clips have had a significant impact on the two victims, who described feeling upset, worried and distressed when they heard them.”
Moran concluded: “Nobody has the right to issue threats or abuse, whether that be in person or via social media.”