A solicitor convicted of stalking a legal blogger was today sentenced to a two-year community order - and ordered not to contact a ‘hobby journalist’ for seven years.
Andrew Jonathan Milne, 63, admitted in 1986, was convicted of stalking without fear in February after a seven-day trial at Stratford magistrates’ court.
Milne’s conduct towards court blogger Daniel Cloake in 2024 was said to amount to harassment after he sent 124 emails to Cloake, left him two voicemails on his birthday, sent him a book and was seen ‘loitering outside’ Cloake’s home following two lunches at the Law Society.
The solicitor, who had his practising certificate restricted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last month, spoke only to give his name and date of birth before his sentencing and to confirm he understood his sentence afterwards.
A victim impact statement from Cloake was read out in court by Reem Khatib, prosecuting. Cloake described Milne’s emails as a ‘weird mix of delusional messages of being in a relationship’ and ‘aggressive’ litigation threats, adding: ‘This was scary and showed a lack of respect for normal boundaries.’
Cloake said Milne had ‘caused stress and distraction whilst he was at work’ adding that he took an email sent by Milne, in which he said he was going to visit Cloake’s home ‘completely uninvited’ which included an ‘offer of settlement for an unparticularised legal claim’, as a ‘sex threat and akin to blackmail’.
‘I was scared he was coming to my house to force me to have sex with him,’ Cloake said.
Read more
Khatib added: ‘Mr Cloake described the conduct as incredibly scary. Mr Milne is a practising solicitor and he was targeting Mr Cloake who was acting as a hobby journalist at the time.’
Nathan Goldstein, for Milne, said: ‘It is not a case where there is any real psychological harm to Mr Cloake who by his own admission in the trial is of robust character. What is significant, in my submission, is this is a matter [where] clearly Mr Milne is going to be significantly affected. His professional reputation and public standing will all be seriously affected.'
Sentencing Milne at Thames’ magistrates court, district judge Towell said: ‘Your interactions with Mr Cloake started when he approached you as a person he knew to be a solicitor at court to discuss your litigation in which he had taken an interest. As a solicitor you had a duty to remain professional with your dealing with Mr Cloake.
The judge described Milne’s actions as ‘persistent, bombarding [Cloake] with over 120 pieces of communication…sending him a gift and attending his home address’.
‘All that contact was clearly uninvited and unwanted. Many of your emails and letters contained material that was offensive. You aggressively threatened him with litigation, made comments about him becoming your sex slave and hoping not to find a dead rodent [Cloake writes the Mouse in Court blog]. Those are just examples, there were more.
‘He described your actions as a tidal wave he could not escape. When he had the opportunity to look back and reflect, he was genuinely fearful of you. [There is] no doubt your conduct has had an ongoing impact on him.’
Referring to Milne’s conduct during his trial, the judge noted he ‘made disparaging, insulting and unfounded allegations’ against Cloake and said Milne was ‘entitled to no credit’.
‘You have shown no remorse whatsoever. During the interview with probation, you continued to make allegations,’ the judge said. Adding that Milne ‘showed no empathy and insight’ into how he had made Cloake feel.
‘You have demonstrated no recognition or respect for boundaries. The probation service say they can work with you on that.’
The judge sentenced Milne to a 24-month community order in which he must complete 300 hours unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation. The judge also imposed a seven-year restraining order in which Milne must not directly or indirectly contact Cloake or attend his home address or any other address in which Cloake may be residing.
Milne was also ordered to pay £850 compensation to Cloake, £650 as a contribution to costs and £114 victim surcharge within 28 days.
Goldstein told the court Milne would be appealing – an automatic right for cases heard at magistrates’ court – within the 21-day time limit.
