A man accused of sending threatening letters and emails, including one allegedly telling university staff “watching your faces drip onto your shoes won’t bother me in the slightest”, will be the subject of a psychiatric report

Alastair Patterson had his plea hearing adjourned to allow the report to be prepared on him.

Patterson, of Avon Way, Colchester, faces 16 charges which include letters sent to Colchester MP Will Quince suggesting an alternative to an “unfit for purpose justice system” was a “face full of acid”.

A plea and trial preparation hearing was due to have taken place at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday (September 23) but Recorder Richard Kelly agreed to adjourn it until November 4 to allow the psychiatric report to be prepared on 63-year-old Patterson.

Patterson’s list of charges include alleged threats made to staff at the University of East Anglia which suggested he had sent a “notice of acid attack” in a letter.

He then allegedly threatened to publicly name the staff as “thieving paedophiles” and racists and told them “watching your faces drip onto your shoes won’t bother me in the slightest”.

A letter addressed to a doctor and another member of staff at the university purportedly implied their jaw would need to be wired shut if they made any mistake.

The charges, which date back to July 2021 and concluded in October, also allege Patterson sent a letter threatening Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab for “failures in the justice system”.

A prior hearing at Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard how this letter stated the aforementioned failures would allow Patterson to publicly brand Mr Raab “by acid”.

In total, the defendant faces 13 charges of sending a letter conveying a threatening message, two charges of sending a letter conveying an indecent or grossly offensive message and one charge of harassment invoking fear of violence.