Sheffield MP Nick Clegg '˜very sorry' after bizarre letter blunder

Dominic Ridler, aged 21, wrote to Mr Clegg asking him to support the Criminal Driving (Justice for Victims) Bill, in the wake of the tragic death of friend Bryony Holland.

Brony, also a University of Sheffield student, was killed last year aged just 19 by a drunk who drove into her on a Nottingham pavement in broad daylight.

But the response did not even address Dominic’s point, or offer condolences about the tragedy.

Dominic said: “Bryony’s death came after a devastating crime and one to which I would expect Nick Clegg to be sensitive in his response.

“Instead I was shocked and saddened to receive a reply dealing at length with executions in Saudi Arabia.”

He added: “The email I have received, signed off by Nick Clegg and copying in my original email, calls into question not only whether emails to constituency MPs are actually read, but also how replies can be sent out without anyone checking the appropriateness of the response.

“I little expected the response I received.”

A spokesman for Mr Clegg said: “Nick was very sorry to hear about Bryony’s tragic death and is deeply apologetic that the wrong response was copied to Mr Ridler.

“Nick receives a high volume of emails every day and it was a simple mistake made by a member of his team.

“The intended response has now been sent to Mr Ridler and there have been steps taken to make sure this does not happen again.”