Mark Kishon Christopher, leader of the so-called ‘Federal Postal Court Judges’, was yesterday sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for leading the group which caused chaos in Chelmsford in April 2023.

The others — Sean Harper, Shiza Harper and Matthew Dean Martin — were each sentenced to a total of 30 months in custody.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that they entered Seax House in the early afternoon of 20 April 2023, interrupted a live inquest and demanded to know where HM Coroner Lincoln Brookes was, saying that they were shutting the court down.

The group were wearing high-visibility jackets, body-worn cameras and carrying handcuffs.

After learning that the HM Senior Essex Coroner was not in the building, the group intimidated a sitting coroner in the court, used violence and claimed to know where she and her staff lived.

This caused significant distress to the coroner in court and her staff, who feared they may be kidnapped and assaulted given the possession of the handcuffs and threats made.

After an alarm was sounded, police officers arrived at the building and were confronted by Kishon Christopher, who repeatedly told them his group were “shutting the court down”.

They were arrested close to another court in Southend and charged with multiple offences including conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

The ‘Federal Postal Court Judges’ was identified as a Organised Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) group — one of a number of organisations which do not recognise the law of the land and instead proclaim the supremacy of their own made-up laws.

Essex Police detective chief inspector Nathan Hutchinson said: “There’s no doubt that this was an unusual and challenging investigation for Essex Police detectives.

“The lead investigator PC Thomas Berry and colleagues in our CID had the challenge of cutting through this group’s ludicrous beliefs in order to identify the motive, offences committed and identify any wider threats, especially given concern around HM The King’s approaching coronation.

“Whilst we appreciate freedom of opinion, this group’s ideologies are nothing more than nonsensical intimidation and oppression with no regard for the law.

“Kishon Christopher told the group that they could take control of an active court, make arrests, and threaten public servants who were just trying to do their job supporting the people of Essex.”