Four members of a group that planned to kidnap a coroner have been jailed.

Mark Christopher, 59, and Matthew Martin, 47, both from east London, and married couple Shiza Harper, 45, and Sean Harper, 38, from South Benfleet, Essex, were convicted of kidnapping and attempted false imprisonment in July. .

During their trial, Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Essex’s senior coroner, Lincoln Brookes, had received a series of “very strange” letters in 2022, followed by emails stating that “corporal punishment may be imposed”.

Mr Brookes described the messages, which purported to be orders to “seize property and persons”, as “disturbing” and “regrettable”. In one, she said she was accused of “harmful witchcraft.”

The court was told the defendants went to the coroner’s court in Chelmsford in handcuffs on April 20, 2023, to look for Mr Brookes, but he was not there at the time.

In summing up the case, Mr Justice Goss told jurors that the defendants were “members of a group called the Federal Postal Court or People’s Court”.

The judge called Christopher “manipulative and dishonest” when handing down the sentence. He said Christopher was a “self-appointed leader” with the title “chief justice of England and all the dominions”.

He added that Martin is the “sheriff and coroner,” Sean Harper is the “sheriff,” and his wife, Shiza Harper, is the “postal inspector and auditor.”

Detective Chief Inspector Nathan Hutchinson, of Essex Police, said: “The ideology of this group was worrying and they genuinely believed that they had the power to set up their own legal system, threaten others and were above British law.”

He praised the coroner’s staff for being “calm and level-headed during a frightening and traumatic ordeal.”

Christopher, who was also found guilty of sending threatening letters to Mr Brookes with intent to cause distress or alarm, was jailed for seven years for the kidnapping conspiracy and 18 months for malicious intent.

The other three were sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment; Each count will be conducted simultaneously.

The four defendants denied all the accusations. Martin was also found not guilty of charges of assault on a security guard and criminal damage.