Syria air strikes: Threats to MP on Facebook leads to arrest for malicious communications

A London man has been charged with malicious communications following a police investigation into Facebook messages sent to an unnamed MP. Craig Wallace, 23, who is also known as Muhammad Mujahid Islam, was arrested at an address in Willesden Green, north London and will appear at Hendon Magistrates' Court on Monday 7 December.

The messages were allegedly sent to the MP - who has a constituency outside London - on 3 December, the day after MP's voted for extending air strikes to include Islamic State (Isis) positions in Syria.

Two Labour MP's, Simon Danczuk and Neil Coyle, who both voted in support of David Cameron's plans to bomb Islamic State (Daesh) targets, reported to police that they had received death threats. The MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Coyle, said that there was an extra police presence outside his regular surgery in his south London constituency.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has also spoken out about the distress caused by a death threat he received in the wake of the landmark decision. A total of 66 Labour MPs sided with Cameron's plans, which won by 397 votes to 223, after a 10-hour debate.

Danczuk has said that since the vote he has received 100 calls from citizens complaining about his decision to vote with the government. Some MP's were sent pictures of dead children by anti-war protesters on social media.

One message sent to Coyle read: "@coyleneil , u voted for air strikes in syria [sic] , if i see u round ends" (followed by emoticons of knives). Coyle said on twitter that he reported this tweet.

Lauded as one of the finest speeches ever delivered in the Commons, Hilary Benn's rousing words inspired MP's to vote for the strikes, but also inspired online abuse. One tweet warned: "Hilary Benn will never walk the streets of Leeds unprotected again. #criminal #Tory."

The debate has also sparked abuse from inside the Labour party with leader Jeremy Corbyn and his deputy Tom Watson having to email party members asking them not to harass MPs, their staff or their families. The Royal Air Force have conducted two strikes since the vote last week targeting IS oil fields with RAF Typhoons and Tornadoes from their base in RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.