Mersea man who harassed woman has conviction appeal denied

Naveen Beefnah, 40, was convicted in November last year for harassing Angela Mack, a complaints manager for Essex Police.

The court heard how Beefnah, previously of Victory Place, West Mersea, had been contacting the force in 2021 about complaints he was making against police officers.

After discovering Mrs Mack was a complaints manager, Beefnah then sent her or copied her into at least 109 emails, persisting even when she replied asking him to file complaints to a general mailbox.

Harassment – Beefnah sent threatening emails to Angela Mack, a complaints manager at Essex Police (Image: Newsquest) Beefnah continued to include Mrs Mack in correspondence because he said he did not agree not to contact her.

In one email, he threatened to share information he found about her on social media and later posted on X claiming Mrs Mack was “helping violent racists destroy evidence”.

Baseless assertions Mrs Mack was “racist” and “corrupt” because he was not Caucasian also had to be filed on the police computer system.

Beefnah, now of HMP Norwich, was jailed last October for a separate offence of stalking and was then convicted the following month of harassing Angela Mack.

But he appealed against that conviction and stood before Recorder Elizabeth Isaacs KC at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.

He argued his contact was not personal because he was writing to a professional email address.

He also told the court he did not believe his accusations Mrs Mack was “racist” would cause alarm or distress because she was a complaints manager.

Cross examining Beefnah, Abbey Robertson argued the defendant “did everything [he] could to cause her distress once [he] found out she was complaints manager for the police”.

Mrs Mack, who was cross-examined, said she knew Beefnah “is quite tech savvy” and “was concerned what he could find about me if he wanted to”.

Hearing – Naveen Beefnah attended Chelmsford Crown Court before a judge on Friday (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest) After hearing the evidence, Recorder Isaacs KC dismissed Beefnah’s appeal.

She said: “Your actions after were highly distressing and her distress was palpable in the witness box when Mrs Mack gave evidence before us.

“The tone of the emails is threatening.”

She continued: “We find it was reasonable for Angela Mack to conclude this was harassment and that Mr Beefnah ought to have known, or did know, his actions amounted to harassment.

“Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.”