A man who reportedly tweeted he would “love to shoot Robert Halfon in the brain” a week after Jo Cox was killed has received a suspended sentence.

Kier Ashby, 21, sent the “grossly offensive” Tweet to the MP for Harlow and villages such as Hastingwood and Nazeing on June 23, the day of the EU referendum.

Ashby, a student from Rushes Mead in Harlow, reportedly tweeted “I would love to shoot Robert Halfon in the brain with a gun!!!” to the MP before deleting it.

At Chelmsford Magistrates Court yesterday (July 13), Ashby admitted sending the tweet and was given a four week prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and told to pay £500 compensation, £85 prosecution costs and £115 victim surcharge.

Essex Police superintendent Sean O’Callaghan said: “While people in public office attract comments on social media on a daily basis, the public must expect abusive or offensive messages that relate to violence to be dealt with robustly.”