Michael Donaldson: Man admits threatening to kill ex-Labour leader & Doncaster MP Ed Miliband

A Doncaster man could be facing a prison sentence, after he admitted threatening to kill former Labour leader, and Doncaster North MP, Ed Miliband.

56-year-old Michael Donaldson pleaded guilty to one charge of making threats to kill, relating to Mr Miliband, during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court this afternoon (May 31, 2024).

Donaldson, of Askern Road, Bentley, Doncaster, made the threat to Mr Miliband during an incident in Doncaster on March 22, 2024.

He also entered a not guilty plea relating to his reiteration of the same threat to Mr Miliband, which was made to a police officer while he was in a South Yorkshire Police custody suite on the same date.

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Prosecutors accepted his denial of the second threats to kill charge, and said a trial would not be pursued on this matter.

Further details of the circumstances of the threat to Mr Miliband were not revealed in court.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, adjourned the case until July 2024, to allow for the preparation of reports.

As he remanded Donaldson into custody, Judge Richardson told him: “This is a serious matter for very obvious reasons. It is always a serious matter to threaten to kill anyone.

Seemingly referring to the murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, Judge Richardson added: “To threaten to kill a Member of Parliament in the current situation, given the relatively recent history, is a serious crime.”