Lord Alan Sugar has spoken out this week after the man who targeted him with abusive and antisemitic letters was convicted on Wednesday.

 The Leyton man - Patrick Gomes - is awaiting sentencing over the three letters sent to Lord Sugar’s business premises in Loughton in October and December 2018. 

The correspondence was directly addressed to Lord Sugar and its contents were “deeply derogatory towards the Jewish faith”, police said. 

Lord Sugar said he initially felt “reluctant to pass this matter on to the police as they are already stretched and have enough on their plates dealing with serious crimes.” 

The 74-year-old businessman expressed his “sincere gratitude” to the police.

“I would like to thank them sincerely for helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable and that racism or any form of discrimination is simply not acceptable,” he said.

Gomes, who is 70, was found guilty in absentia at Chelmsford Crown court of religiously-aggravated harassment, putting those targeted in fear of violence.

He failed to appear in court this week and was arrested on Thursday and remanded in custody.

He denied any involvement during the investigation but officers found his fingerprints and DNA over one of the letters. An address book and additional “discriminatory” material written by Gomes were also uncovered.

Investigating officer PC Marc Arnold, said he was “really pleased that justice has been rightly served.”

He said: “There is simply no excuse for any hate crime and if this happens to you or you witness this type of behaviour, please tell us.  

“We will not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind and neither should you.”