Self-Styled ‘Feminist Barrister’ Confronts Army Veteran Academic in Court
Sean Bw Parker
December 9, 2023
In late 2023 the Twitter/X culture wars leapt off the screen and into the UK court system. Outspoken family court barrister Charlotte Proudman had form for pursuing those of whom she disapproved: her fame – or notoriety, depending on whom is asked – sprang from her outing of a fellow legal professional for ‘liking’ a photo she had posted on LinkedIn, back in pre-#MeToo 2015.
Proudman – who changed her surname from her father’s Bailye – has recently had an Inspector Philip Grimwade, formerly of Nottinghamshire Police, dismissed for gross misconduct for sending malicious tweets. This might have been a bellwether in how these types of cases were now going. Proudman has also allegedly run conferences designed to teach you about how to bring about a ‘cultural revolution’.
Now David Mottershead, a 42-year-old independent researcher from Machynlleth, Powys, was accused of sending harassing tweets in November 2022 (as well as being in possession of a bladed article – which he claims he had forgotten was in his possession). He pleaded not guilty to the two charges at Mold Crown Court, on July 28th 2023.
Mottershead had been a Lance Corporal in the Royal Logistic Corps between 1999 and 2002 and served in Kosovo, Norway, Oman and Cyprus. He served again from 2008 to 2012 as a Household Cavalry soldier. His defence accepted that he was responsible for the messages but maintained that he had not directed them at the lawyer. The Court heard that Mottershead, who has post-traumatic stress and partial autism, ‘took great issue’ with Proudman’s views.
An equal rights writer and advocate, Mottershead was given a restraining order. He had said that he had not intended to threaten Proudman, who in turn claimed in the court case to not support cultural revolution or the deconstruction of family, and denied the harassment allegation.
The judge said that both parties held very different views in relation to gender equality and violence between the sexes, but that both also sought to amplify them on social media. The photo that Mottershead sent Proudman of a soldier in fatigues, pointing a gun towards the viewer, could be seen as the pointing out of the difference between an actual warrior serving on the front line and a ‘keyboard warrior’ with their memes (as a Daily Mail writer said of Mottershead following the trial).
There is allegedly a list drawn up by political feminists of 200 figures speaking out for equal rights. This includes family attachment specialists, child psychologists, and those who have reunited numerous families on behalf of the family courts. It is claimed that Proudman and Claire Waxman, the domestic violence commissioner for London, England and Wales, have come up with this list of professionals who campaign over or make Parental Alienation (PA) diagnoses they deem ‘dangerous’.
Mottershead, who has himself had death threats sent to him (he had been sent pictures of dead bodies by activists with the message ‘you have no idea who we are, but answer me now or this is how you’ll end up’ ) was accused of being a ‘keyboard warrior’ on Remembrance night, as a result of what he saw as Proudman’s provocation in the form of the promotion of activist violence. After having been stalked, harassed and doxxed by many of the accounts in her feed for years, he confronted them. It seems Mottershead’s intent was to interrupt Proudman’s process by offering himself up to those who were harassing him, hoping that they would take the bait and leave everyone else alone.
Charlotte Proudman, who was revealed by a former client as sometimes earning £20,000 per day for her work, was reported as saying in The Daily Mail: ‘I have never seen another feminist make death threats’.
In 1968, feminist writer Valerie Solanas entered world-famous Pop artist Andy Warhol’s New York office. Carrying two loaded guns, she shot Warhol in the stomach and chest, due to what she saw as his treatment of women. Although he almost died, the shots weren’t fatal. Instead, Warhol suffered severe health complications for the rest of his life, which according to some led to his death some years later. Solanos belonged to S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men).