IN THE wake of MP Jo Cox's murder, an Isle of Wight man terrorised her Labour colleague, MP Steve Reed, with a series of chilling phone calls — threatening to kill him and bomb his office.

A former Labour Party volunteer at the Croydon North constituency during the 1997 general election campaign, Jean Paul Irtelli was subsequently told his services were no longer required.

The Isle of Wight Crown Court heard today (Friday) he had held a grudge against the branch ever since.

Prosecuting, Anthony Bailey said Irtelli called the constituency office threatening Mr Reed and his staff.

In one call, made on March 28 this year, Irtelli raved: "I'm going to f***ing kill you. You f***ing call the police and I'll blow the whole lot of you up. Steve Reed is going to die. That's not a threat, that's a promise you b*****d."

Although slightly inaudible, staff member Tom Beamont, who answered the phone, heard the words 'blow up Theresa May,' followed by: "What have you got to say about that?"

On April 12, Mr Bailey said there were two voicemail messages left on the office answerphone.

They threatened: "I'm going to f***ing kill you. You're all going to f***ing die. I'm going to f***ing burn the place down if I ever come there again.

"I'm going to kill the lot of you, you bloody Croydon b*****ds, you're going to die, die, die."

Irtelli, 48, of Grove Road, Ventnor, admitted making the calls, and similar calls in November, threatening to blow up Mr Reed's office.

He admitted causing fear of violence at a previous hearing, held at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on August 7.

At a sentencing hearing on the Isle of Wight today, Berenice Mulvanny, defending, said Irtelli was born with a congenital condition that affected his physical and mental development.

He had no radius bones in his arms and a low platelet count, was diagnosed with Asperger's as a child and, more recently, with anxiety, she said.

His mother and carer, Barbara Irtelli, often bore the brunt of his daily frustrations.

"He is a very lonely man, an isolated and vulnerable man. Prison is a terrifying prospect for him, and for his mother," said Miss Mulvanny.

"He had no intention of carrying out any threats, nor would he have been able to do so. There was no plan to carry out any attack. He made the calls from his mother's landline.

"In the heat of the moment he struggles significantly with anger management issues and unfortunately this was an outlet for those difficulties."

In a victim impact statement, read by Mr Bailey, Mr Reed said: "When the threats were made I was on a heightened sense of alert because a close friend of mine, Jo Cox, had been murdered by a political extremist.

"A colleague being killed like that was incredibly alarming and upsetting. I and my colleagues were made aware, through the killing of Jo, that we were more at risk of being killed.

"The threats made were not idle. Someone I know was killed in the street.

"Anyone can make a prank call, but he made a direct call to my staff threatening to firebomb us and kill us.

"I feel a responsibility towards my staff, they should not have had to experience these threats.

"As a public figure, people can easily find out my home address. I could not feel safe at work, or home, or anywhere. I had to inform my partner and family.

"It was upsetting that, trying to do the job I was elected to do and make a positive contribution to society, my life has been threatened."

Mr Beamont said: "I took the threat very seriously. We locked the doors to make it more secure. I didn't work alone for the rest of the day.

"The security arrangements were reviewed because the address of the office is public. If someone wanted to come to the office they could easily locate us."

Irtelli, who has three previous convictions for six offences between 2005 and 2011 — including harassment, sending indecent or menacing messages, using abusive or threatening words or behaviour, and battery, for which he received community orders — escaped an immediate jail term.

He was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

Judge Timothy Mousley said: "This is particularly serious as these were threats against people performing a public service. You repeatedly caused Steven Reed, Tom Beamont and others to fear violence would be used against them.

"In a number of phone calls you made extreme threats of violence — to kill them, bomb them, and terrorise them.

"The threats made Mr Reed fear for his safety. He took the threats seriously. One can quite understand that, bearing in mind that at the time, and perhaps still now, there is a climate prevailing in political circles in relation to attacks upon MPs. Jo Cox was a close colleague of his.

"You are quite obviously someone with a grudge against the Labour Party in Croydon.

"I accept you would not have carried out your threats but your victims were not to know that."