'I am going to slit your throat' - Man who threatened Ed Miliband has appeal refused

Michael Donaldson, who was 56 when he was jailed for three years in August, approached Mr Miliband and his staff during a constituency visit last March to Bentley.

He later said to police he had drunk a litre of vodka and did not remember the incident.

At a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Wednesday, Judge Heather Norton, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Soole, said: “Mr Miliband felt instantly vulnerable.

“He was concerned for himself and his staff, one of whom heard the applicant shout ‘I’m going to do it now’ while placing his hand in his pocket.”

She also said Donaldson needed to be restrained after his arrest and that he had said Mr Miliband “will be put in a body bag next time I see him”, while suggesting the threat was “only a joke”.

He later prepared a statement where he apologised for his behaviour and said he did not intend to carry out the threat, Judge Norton added.

Donaldson has relevant previous convictions for threatening behaviour, affray, crimes associated with alcohol abuse and consumption, and racially aggravated harassment, the court heard.

In addition to the three years in prison he was also given an eight-year restraining order against Mr Miliband.

A judge at a previous hearing had described Donaldson’s threats as a “form of attack on parliamentary democracy in this country”, Judge Norton said.

She added: “The threat of killing a Member of Parliament is a significant aggravating factor that demands a significant deterrent.

“We cannot conclude that the sentence is arguably manifestly excessive and accordingly, we refuse leave.”