Man charged after 'anti-vaccine protest' outside Sajid Javid's house
4 January 2022, 20:40 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56
A man has been charged with criminal damage after reports of an anti-vaccine protest outside Sajid Javid's home.
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The Metropolitan Police said Geza Tarjanyi, 60, of Boundary Street, Leyland, Lancashire, was arrested in Fulham on Monday.
A video posted on social media showed a person delivering a letter with an anti-Covid vaccine message to what they claimed was the health secretary's home.
The person can be heard calling the Government "criminals" who must be put "under investigation".
In the footage, a man stands outside the property and addresses the camera for several minutes, saying the letter is putting the Health Secretary "personally on notice" for "harming" people in Britain with vaccines.
The video then shows the man being restrained in handcuffs by police officers.
The force said Tarjanyi was due to appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday charged with having an article with intent to destroy or damage property.
He was bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on February 1.
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After visiting a vaccination centre in Lambeth, south London, Mr Javid said: "We are working very hard across Government, particularly the Home Office and the police are doing everything they can to tackle anti-vax protesters that are breaking the law."
He added: "That kind of information, which is frankly just lies, about vaccines and misinformation is something that is costing lives.
"And what we really need to do is focus on the positive messages about how vaccines are saving lives, preventing people from going to the hospital, helping you, your family and your community."
Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also condemned the incident, taking to Twitter to write: "It's completely unacceptable that anti-vaxxers turned up at Sajid Javid's home and it's right that this should be taken seriously by the Police.
"Best wishes to the Health Secretary and his family. They shouldn't have to deal with this."
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It comes after Mr Javid said he was "appalled" by the "vile behaviour" of anti-vaccine protesters who entered a test and trace centre in Milton Keynes on December 29.
Piers Corbyn, who is former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's brother, was seen speaking at the demonstration in Milton Keynes, during which traffic cones were thrown and signs pulled down.
Speaking at a Downing Street news conference today, Professor Sir Chris Whitty said "the great majority" of those who were in intensive care and had not been jabbed were "not anti-vaxxers in the ordinary sense with some really weird ideas" but had been taken advantage of by those seeking to misinform them online.
Sir Chris said "misinformation" on the internet, "a lot of it deliberately placed", about potential side effects from jabs was fuelling fears about whether Covid-19 was important enough to warrant vaccination, as well as whether the vaccines were effective against the disease.
"Insofar as I am frustrated it is simply people deliberately trying to scare away fellow citizens from something that is potentially going to be life-saving for them," he said.
