A man who sent anti-Semitic letters to Lord Alan Sugar has been sentenced to more than three years in jail.

Patrick Gomes, 70, of Lyttelton Road, Leyton, sent three letters addressed to Lord Sugar to a business premises in Loughton in 2018.

Each letter contained abusive, threatening and offensive language, and were all deeply derogatory towards the Jewish faith.

While searching Gomes’ home address, officers found that he had written the details of Lord Sugar’s business premises in his address book.

There were also additional letters, all discriminatory in nature, waiting to be sent.

Analysis of one of the letters also revealed Gomes’ DNA and fingerprints.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series: Patrick Gomes has been jailed (photo Essex Police)Patrick Gomes has been jailed (photo Essex Police)

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday 1 December, Gomes was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment, putting those targeted in fear of violence.

After failing to appear at court, he was arrested and remanded in custody.

Today, Wednesday 16 February, he was sentenced to three years and six months in jail at the same court.

Investigating officer PC Marc Arnold, of Epping Forest’s Community Policing Team, said:

“Throughout the investigation and despite all of the evidence against him, Gomes has denied his involvement.

“At no point has he shown remorse for his actions and I’m glad that he’s now been made to answer for his crimes.

“If something like this happens to you, please report it and if you witness it, please speak up.

“Racism or discrimination of any kind should never be tolerated and those that think it’s acceptable need to be held accountable.”

Following Gomes’s conviction in December, Lord Sugar said: “I would like to pass on my sincere gratitude to the police for their assistance in this case.

“I have to be honest, I was reluctant to pass this matter on to the police as they are already stretched and have enough on their plates dealing with serious crimes.

“I would like to thank them sincerely for helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable and that racism or any form of discrimination is simply not acceptable.”