Labour MP Claudia Webbe will stand trial in March accused of harassing woman for almost two years by making series of unwanted phone calls
Claudia Webbe, Labour MP for Leicester East, is pictured in London last November
A Labour MP accused of carrying out a harassment campaign against a woman will stand trial in March, a court heard today.
Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe, 55, who had the party whip removed pending the case, has been accused of making 'numerous unwanted telephone calls' to Michelle Merritt.
The alleged incidents occurred between September 2018 and April last year.
Webbe was elected in the December 2019 general election, taking over the seat previously held by Keith Vaz.
Webbe did not appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today for her case management hearing due to the pandemic.
During today's case management hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Paul Goldspring was told how prosecution and defence had yet to come to an agreement on admissions.
Deanna Heer, prosecuting, said she would not be seeking an adjournment and the trial remained fixed for March 16.
Webbe, of Moreland Street, Islington, denies one count of harassment without violence, between 1 September 2018 and 26 April 2020.
The charge alleges the MP 'pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the harassment of Michelle Merritt and which you knew or ought to have known amounted to the harassment of her in that you made numerous unwanted telephone calls and made threats on at least two occasions'.
Webbe was granted unconditional bail ahead of her trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 16 March.
Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe is pictured with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
If convicted, she faces a maximum six months prison or an unlimited fine.
In September Webbe insisted her innocence, saying: 'I am innocent of any wrongdoing and look forward to proving this in court. I will be vigorously defending myself against these claims.'
The De Montfort University graduate entered the Commons after the December general election, winning the seat formerly held by Keith Vaz.
Webbe won the constituency with a majority over the Conservatives of 6,019, down from Mr Vaz's majority of 22,428 in 2017.
She is on the left of the party and has been a vocal supporter of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Webbe hit the headlines in July when she threw her mobile phone to the floor of the House of Commons in frustration after it started ringing while she was speaking.
Before Leicester, she was a councillor in Islington, North London, between 2010 and 2018 and was a member of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee.
Earlier in her career, she was a political adviser to then-London mayor Ken Livingstone.