Matt Hancock felt “physically intimidated” and feared being pushed down a London underground escalator by an anti-vaccination protester accusing him of murdering people during the coronavirus pandemic, the former health secretary has told a court.
Geza Tarjanyi, 62, of Leyland, in Lancashire, who has denied causing harassment without violence, is accused of shoulder-barging the MP and shouting “ridiculous conspiracy theories” on two separate occasions on 19 and 24 January this year.
Hancock told a trial at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday: “As a public figure, I can’t recall a time when I felt as intimidated as this.”
He said the first occasion occurred as he and a member of his staff passed an anti-vaccination protest near parliament. Tarjanyi filmed him, asked why he had “killed so many people” and shoulder-barged him during a five-minute interaction.
“I felt physically intimidated and felt like I needed to get to a place of safety. He was being completely unreasonable. I didn’t know what further unreasonable actions he would take,” the MP, who was called as a witness, told the court.
He added: “It made me feel unsafe going about my place of work. It made me feel frustrated that instead of engaging in a normal debate, someone was trying to intimidate me. I thought that was unacceptable.
“I had a pretty good impression he had been taken over by these ridiculous conspiracy theories.”
A few days later, at about 8am, after Hancock had had breakfast with the prime minister, Tarjanyi followed the MP through Westminster tube station and on to a train for about 10 minutes, again accusing him of murdering people, the court heard.
Hancock said he recognised the defendant and felt “more intimidated” because he was on his own. He tried to get Transport for London (TfL) staff to intervene, he said.
Tarjanyi then began harassing “anybody who was going to come to my aid” and continued following him through the station.
Hancock said he stopped at the top of an escalator to “resolve the situation” but felt the defendant pushing him towards it. “Obviously I was extremely worried at this time. If I had lost my balance at that point, I would have tumbled down the escalator.
“It’s a long escalator, I could see a long escalator moving away from me, and I was being pushed from behind.”
He said he feared Tarjanyi was willing to commit a crime, alleging the defendant had told him he “wanted to go to court”.
“One of the reasons I hadn’t reported the incident on January 19 was because I don’t want these people with these untrue beliefs to get further publicity from harassing me.”
Tarjanyi then got on the Jubilee line train with Hancock and accused him of murdering “millions of people”, before they were separated at Bond Street station.
The defendant’s mobile phone footage of the second incident, played to the court, showed him calling Hancock a “murderous scumbag” and saying lockdown amounted to the harassment of the country because of his “lies and deceit”.
Parveen Mansoor, defending, said Tarjanyi denied any physical contact and believed it was Hancock who “barged into him”. She added: “He denies assaulting him in any way shape or form.”
She suggested Hancock had not been pushed during the incidents, arguing the defendant merely walked into him after he stopped. Hancock responded: “Oh, please. The idea that it was my fault he walked into me is ridiculous.”
The trial was adjourned until 4 July.
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