Man Found Guilty of Threatening Scotland's Lord Advocate and Ex-First Minister's Wife
A man has been convicted for sending threatening letters to Scotland's top law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, and to Nadia El-Nakla, the wife of former SNP leader Humza Yousaf.
Matthew Sylvestre, aged 61, sent a handwritten note to Lord Advocate Bain's residence warning that "something nasty" could happen to her family. Additionally, he sent emails to El-Nakla that caused her to fear for her and her family's safety.
Sylvestre was found guilty of threatening or abusive behaviour at the High Court in Edinburgh. However, he was acquitted of similar charges related to former Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone and ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Judge Lord Colbeck described the offence involving Bain as "effectively threatening" her family.
Sylvestre denied the allegations, asserting that his fingerprints appeared on the envelope because they had been stolen from him while he was incarcerated.
Details of the Threatening Letters
The threatening letter was delivered to Bain's home on 23 April 2024. It contained a handwritten message stating:
"Give me the keys of my flat and my wallet or something nasty will happen to Jamie down south England and to your sisters."
Bain interpreted this as a reference to her son, Jamie, who was residing in southern England at the time, and to her sisters. The envelope also included her full home address, which was not publicly known.
A second letter was sent to Bain's residence a few days later. She did not open this letter but handed both to the police. The second note contained the message:
"keys flAT wallet FLAT COMPO RELEASE OR CHAINSAW"
Emails to Nadia El-Nakla and Additional Evidence
Sylvestre sent emails to Dundee councillor Nadia El-Nakla from an email address linked to Cullen, Moray, and other locations between October 2023 and March 2024. He denied that the content of these emails was threatening.
During a search of his cell at Perth Prison in May 2024, authorities found another letter addressed to First Minister John Swinney. In this letter, Sylvestre claimed he had been the "victim of a personal vendetta" by Yousaf and El-Nakla.
The letter further stated that his emails were "congratulating her on her impending new arrival to her family, criticising Hamas, and calling for tight immigration restrictions for Palestinians" following the attacks on Israel in October 2023. He also alleged being "stalked" by 17 police constables and "CID" officers.
Background and Sentencing
Following the conviction, the jury was informed that Sylvestre had previously spent time at the high-security State Hospital at Carstairs after receiving an eight-year sentence for a serious assault in 2004.
Lord Colbeck postponed sentencing until 19 June to allow for a background report to be prepared. Sylvestre was remanded in custody pending sentencing.
