A GROUP of four people who turned up at a court with a set of handcuffs and demanded to know where the senior coroner was have been jailed for their roles in a conspiracy to kidnap and falsely imprison him.

Senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes, who was not at the coroner’s court in Chelmsford at the time, said he regularly has nightmares about the incident, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The four had turned up at the court on April 20 last year, entered a room where another coroner was conducting documentary inquests, demanded to know where Mr Brookes was and said they were shutting down the court.

Judge, Mr Justice James Goss, said all four were members of a group called the Federal Postal Court, or the Court for the People, which had “self-conferred” powers.

Mark Christopher, 59, was described as the “self-appointed leader” who went by the title of Chief Judge of England and All Dominions.

Matthew Martin, 47, was a “sheriff and coroner”, Sean Harper, 38, was a “sheriff” and his wife Shiza Harper, 45, was “a postal inspector” for the group, the judge said.

The judge said Christopher “lay at the very heart of these offences” and jailed him for seven years.

He said Martin, and Mr and Mrs Harper “were prepared to commit offences while doing his bidding”, and jailed them for 30 months each.

Essex area coroner Michelle Brown told an earlier trial that the group came into her courtroom.

She told the court on Monday “I do believe I will never feel safe”, adding: “I wake up at night thinking I can hear someone trying to get in, then I sit up all night.”

Christopher, of Forest Gate, east London, Martin, of Plaistow, east London, and Shiza and Sean Harper, both of South Benfleet, all denied conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, but were all found guilty on both counts following a two-week trial.

Christopher was also found guilty of sending threatening letters to Mr Brookes with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

The judge jailed all four, ordered each to pay a £228 surcharge and subjected each to a restraining order, barring them from entering any courthouse in England and Wales without a prior appointment and blocking them from contacting Mr Brookes or Ms Brown.