[Closed] 18 weeks in Jail for trolling..

terribly bad taste, but quite possibly a work of abstract genius:

He also posted a video on YouTube, entitled Tasha the Tank Engine, showing the children's character Thomas the Tank Engine with Miss MacBryde's face.

Dave

edit: just read in more detail about how she died... even worse taste than I had originally thought.

You can't deny we do black humour better than most in this country though.

Goes way beyond bad taste, I don't know exactly what law they used to bang him up, if its under some "electronics communications" act then I haven't heard about it, but it seems quite a fair sentence to pass in this case.

Guy needs psychiatric help rather than locking up - seriously twisted individual.....

We were chatting about this in the office, since when did trolling become illegal. Tasteless - yes, an abhorent thing to do - yes but did he actually break a law?

Sounds like a right c**t, but is it much different from the stuff some comedians do?

It should surely mean a life sentence for some if the Big Hitters (tm) on here. 😆

here you go MSP
Malicious Communications Act 1988 section 1
(This is the wording of this section as amended by Section 43 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. It applies to offences committed from the 11th May 2001 onwards)
(1) Any person who sends to another person
(a) a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive
(ii) a threat or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender or
(b) any article or electronic communication which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,
is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.

(2) A person is not guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a)(ii) above if he shows
(a) that the threat was used to reinforce a demand made by him on reasonable grounds and
(b) that he believed, and had reasonable grounds for believing, that the use of the threat was a proper means of reinforcing the demand.

(2A) In this section 'electronic communication' includes _
(a) any oral or other communication by means of a telecommunication system(within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (c12)); and
(b) any communication (however sent) that is in electronic form.

(3) In this section references to sending include references to delivering or transmitting and to causing to be sent, delivered or transmitted and 'sender' shall be construed accordingly.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

Maybe there is a law against being an arsehole after all?

A friends teenaged son committed suicide by throwing himself under a train..

Whilst at the funeral service I hastily reminded another friend to turn his mobile off when I remembered his ring tone was the Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune..

It was lucky that I did as he had actually forgotten to do it.. 😕

The classic troll, IMO..
[url= http://robotmantheblog.com/2006/10/25/so-i-guess-i-got-kicked-off-another-my-little-pony-forum/ ]Clicky linky...[/url]
Contains rude words.

[i]Malicious Communications Act 1988 section 1

(1) Any person who sends to another person
(a) a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive
(ii) a threat or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender[/i]

That covers every thread on here! 😯

CFH - the original version of MLP troll is much longer than that, I'll see if I can find it.

*opens thread hoping it's about FredBra*
🙁

Goes way beyond bad taste, I don't know exactly what law they used to bang him up, if its under some "electronics communications" act then I haven't heard about it, but it seems quite a fair sentence to pass in this case.

Indeed. What a nasty peice of work.

so in English, you can get busted for:

"Sending an email which conveys information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender". Or by extrapolatino, if you post a lie on a thread, you've undertaken a criminal act? Whats the test?

what a crock of poo. Why wasnt there an outcry when this law was written?

EDIT> Aha phil.w, you missed off the important bit: "with intent to cause distress or anxiety."

Jeez, Mr Duffy sure knows how to have a laugh. Shame he's banned or I would've added him as a FB friend.
Strange how he also actually [i]looks[/i] like a troll. Maybe that's what gave him away.

chuckle

yes but did he actually break a law?

I wonder how he would have got his kicks without the internet?

I wonder how he would have got his kicks without the internet?

Nicking dinner money and punching the geeky kids like most bullies, I suspect.

Unbelievable.

There's tw*tish trolling (some of it amusing) and then there’s highly offensive behavior committed by unpleasant inadequates like Mr Duffy - that clearly engage S1 of the above act. The vast majority of people can distinguish the two apart despite the murky cross-over I would suggest.

Despite a lot of the balls that gets batted about on STW I've never seen anything that I would deem a Malicious Communication per se - but it’s food for thought, particularly for those that think anonymous internet forums or social networking sites are not ‘real life’ and as such they can’t be held to account for their submissions - something Mr Duffy may ponder over the coming weeks.

It would be interesting to know what a MOD’s view is on this?

"Sending an email which conveys information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender".

There is a God

See you all in 6 monthd

I think he used some sort of 'diminished responsibility' trump card too, as in he suffers from Aspergers syndrome. Thankfully the judge gave him maximum sentence available to him but this case proves that it's all too easy for cyber bullies to be effective in causing distress.

He would have got the same sentence for handling a bottle of water stolen by a looter in Aldi 🙄

Despite a lot of the balls that gets batted about on STW I've never seen anything that I would deem a Malicious Communication per se

Did you miss the thread that got closed last night then ❓

😆

i woke up to find the thread closed, then deleted... probably sensible choice by the mods otherwise i might have been taken to court by my housemate 😉

REALLY PHILLY?

careful now deadly, i'm known for my shouty persona on here you know 😆

Has anyone got a bottom bracket I could borrow?

Yes, but if you're not publicly appreciative of it, I'll be QUITE SHOUTY ON INTERNET FORUMz 😛

What a sad, nasty, pathetic little man he is.

😆

didnt mind that he was dismissive of the offer, just perplexed how he could say such nasty things about me with the the caveat that he had met me in real life, when our real life meeting consisted of the situation as described lol.

i'm used to people being dismissive of kindness and help in my job, its all cool 8)

there's a couple of very popular groups on facebook with people who regularly partake in the same kinda stuff as the guy who was sent dahhhn, recently they've been posting on the 'RIP mark duggan' groups 🙁 all very destructive and the only reason is to upset people for cheap laughs. somebody made a good point above about it not being far off what a lot of modern comedians do though!

now the details of the law have been posted on STW will we see certain forum members dragging it up the moment someone disagrees with them on a thread?

He posted and paid the price of being a prat.

Sounds like the trolls of STW.

Flame me if you like but I'm not sure I agree with this.

What he did was despicable but I can't see how its a criminal act. Whatever happened to "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

And yes he has caused the family distress but it shoud be a civil matter of slander or defamation of character. Putting people in jail for being dickheads onine seems like a very sippery slope

To me this is the most frightening thing to have happened in the UK in my lifetime. It's official... we do not have freedom of speech and you better be very careful what you say on the internet. The guy who has been jailed here seems to be a cock (is it safe for me to insult anyone anymore?) but he harmed no one and jailing someone for being a dick and trolling a message board belongs in China or Iran and not in a supposedly free country.

There have been cases of bullying around schools where people KNOW the other people and this can be dangerous and I think it's right to put a stop to it, but this is not the same in my eyes. Am I in danger of being jailed for saying that I thought Amy Wino was a waste of space and the world is no worse off without her, or that Diana Spencer was a bigger waste of national resources than the Olympics and she was actually very harmful to the security of nations through her ignorantly sticking her nose in where it didn't belong?

Apparently having an opinion that strongly opposes the popular masses is an illegal act now; bet you won't see many arrests based on Imams in London Mosques preaching the downfall and utter destruction of Western civilized nations any time soon though.

Apparently having an opinion that strongly opposes the popular masses is an illegal act now; bet you won't see many arrests based on Imams in London Mosques preaching the downfall and utter destruction of Western civilized nations any time soon though.

I was wondering when our first closet racist would turn up.

Excellent, have a banana
[img] [/img]

+1 coyote

he was out of order with you Phil , couldn't believe what I was reading, kinda ruins the forum for me people like that .

That wasn't racist at all, yossarian. Muslims are not a race.

😉

"I was wondering when our first closet racist would turn up. "

I consider anyone who doesn't know what a race is to be rather more racially offensive than I would ever dream of being. And I am right too! 🙂

However, I am quite sure that associating a religion with people from a particular location is about as racist as it gets.

Now stop being racist on the forum; it disgusts me and makes me feel a little sick! 🙂

Oooo I bet it was captain (although point well made an' all that) 😉

Edit: oh hi razor! Dunno what this country is coming to, it'll be illegal to fly the cross of St. George soon but Muslims will be allowed free bus passes. It's all very dark.

cheers jamesy, you can't see me right now but i'm shutting my eyes and nodding in quiet agreement. with the right lighting and music it'd make a good close up.

lets forget all that though and get back to enjoying this fine forum 😀

looks like this threads about to get interesting with razor's entry!

it's a worn out cliche and has probably already been typed in the time its taken me to write this whilst watching a film, but i may need to put the kettle on and find some biscuits..

It may well have been, Yossarian, but if you're going to throw stones, do it from the outside of your glass house! 🙂

Anyone know any dead baby jokes?

Now you've lost me captain, been at the communion wine again?

razor1548 - Member

To me this is the most frightening thing to have happened in the UK in my lifetime. It's official... we do not have freedom of speech

I was expecting some hysteria like this... We've never had "free speech", you could go to jail for things you said before now, this is no different. Libel, tort, breach of the peace, incitement, conspiracy, to name just a couple.

Why does this guy's jail sentence "frighten" you more than the Youtube Riot Inciters?

Interesting thread drift...maaaaaaaaaaaan 🙂

Yoss, was just pointing out that accuracy would have helped your cause!

Philly is a MASSIVE RACIST.
[img] [/img]

this is the most frightening thing to have happened in the UK in my lifetime

you better be very careful what you say on the internet.

Apparently having an opinion that strongly opposes the popular masses is an illegal act now

darcy, i've made it clear on this website before that its impossible for me to be racist because i've seen ladysmith live 3 times and once shared a bed with a turk.

what the turk lacks in height he makes up in enthusiasm.

Yoss, was just pointing out that accuracy would have helped your cause!

It was accurate flashy. I just went a step further than the poster, quite accurately I sense too.

Agree 100% with DD. Consequence is a boil that must be lanced. figuratively of course. Not with a pointy thing. 🙂

Fancy one of my Turkish massages Philly?

"Why does this guy's jail sentence "frighten" you more than the Youtube Riot Inciters? "

Absolutely right Northwind. I know that utter 'freedom of speech' is a bit of a myth and rightly so; actually being able to say anything anywhere with no consequences. Yes... very silly idea indeed.

It frightens me more because riot inciters were fairly likely to be trying to gather real people to go out and do real damage. I say 'likely' because there were probably a few armchair warriors doing the same who would never leave their safe flats and their Xboxes let alone travel as far as the local town centre.

This truly makes me fear that we cannot speak our minds and comment on a pseudo tragedy. You know the kind... where the media says 'everyone in the UK is devastated...'. Some of us weren't particularly devastated and sometimes the media is full of utter cocknockery when far more important things are happening near and far. Yet a lot of grief hijackers jump on anything they can get their rocks off to and along with the afore mentioned modern comedians, I think it is rather fair game to take the piss out of it all.

The guy who was jailed went far for sure, but I firmly believe it is wrong to prosecute him for doing so. Banning people from using the internet on the other hand I am all for. 😉

Malicious Communications Act 1988 section 1
(This is the wording of this section as amended by Section 43 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. It applies to offences committed from the 11th May 2001 onwards)
(1) Any person who sends to another person
(a) a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive
(ii) a threat or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender or
(b) any article or electronic communication which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,
is guilty of an offence if his purpose

yossarian -

Agree 100% with DD. Consequence is a boil that must be lanced.

[img] [/img]

😉

edit - DD only if you dress up like natalie portman.

"did you miss the actual terrorist attacks we have had in this country and yet you think this is more frightening"

No.

Bizzare judgement - I bet he is out on appeal. diminished responsibility

Philly actually enjoys being lanced.

In a lay-by.

In Newbury.

i'm inclined to agree TJ, if he is aspergic then it wouldn't surprise me if somebody argued his diagnosis means he will struggle to/be unable to understand the effect of his actions on other's emotions.

i'm unsure its completely true (always happy to be proved wrong by people who know the subject better though!), the aspergic guy i worked with definitely explained away his behaviour with that reasoning and his team seemed to back it up. long 1:1 sessions with him left me thinking he had some idea/awareness though. not my area of expertise though, only a limited experience to draw from!

This not just a case of somebody pleading guilty and being stupid enough to take any punishment handed down by the courts? Surely it'd be impossible for them to prove it was him that typed the words, easiest defence in the world must surely have been sorry I left my computer logged in at work or something...

And that's without even thinking up a decent case against jailing people for trolling, which is ridiculous in itself and must be pretty easy to make a case against it...

TandemJeremy - Member

Bizzare judgement - I bet he is out on appeal. diminished responsibility

Diminished responsibility is a partial defence to Murder only.

Behave mate - tactical Aspergers gets short shrift in the court room and was rightly booted into the weeds by the Judge. There's no way this sort of behaviour (grossly ridiculing the bereaved) comes anywhere near being mitigated by an Aspergers condition.

I don't know if it was a true playing of the Aspergers card tbf, though, ie integral to the defence. His brief might have just mentioned it in a please-don't-send-him-to-Wakefield fashion. Crash course in communication available at that institution for the lad if he ever ended up there.

Diminished responsibility is a partial defence to Murder only.

every day's a school day 😀

It is - and please start your sentences with a capital 🙂

friend in reading just posted this up on facebook:

( http://www.****/news/article-2036935/Sean-Duffy-Internet-troll-taunted-teenager-deaths-jailed-18-WEEKS.html)

quite a lot of detail about the trolling.. really unplaasant read! 🙁

Duffy's lawyer Lance Whiteford said he could offer no mitigation but that Asperger's and alcohol abuse went some way to explaining why he committed the offences.
Duffy was diagnosed from a young age with Asperger's and had received specialist education because of his condition. But it had led to years of bullying and isolation, including moving out of his parents' home, Mr Whiteford told the court.
He added: 'In terms of mitigation there is none. I cannot imagine the trauma and anxiety caused to the families by these horrible, despicable offences.

'[b]The condition leaves the absence of theory of the mind, quintessentially the ability that makes us human.[/b]
'He just wasn't aware how horrible the effect was going to be on those who looked at what he had done.

the bold bit sits really uncomfortably for me!

EDIT - sorry deluded, i have to save all my capital letters for work, can't spare them by bandying them about willy nilly on forums!

"EDIT - sorry deluded, i have to save all my capital letters for work, can't spare them by bandying them about willy nilly on forums! "

I haven't tested this out so I might be wrong. I have always imagined it is more difficult to change your typing style from childlike to grownup between times and have to remember to press the shift key at the beginning of a sentence ONLY when you are in a particular geographical location than just to do it all the time. 🙂

Again... I may be very wrong.

its easy razor 🙂 the same way i wouldn't swear or discuss the merits of boobs at work but i would with friends... that little unconscious switch deep down in my brain and i alter my approach to the setting 🙂

its a compliment, i see you fine fellows and felowettes as friends so i bring my casual approach... on threads where i have to put on my professional hat my posts tend to end up full of capitals 8)

I have no idea what you lot are talking about. Is it someones job to go looking for nasty letters on the internet or is it just people reporting stuff they deem offensive.
Does someone from singletrack have to read all this rubbish we spout and rate it on some kind of naughty scale? I noticed gypsy threads being closed. If some racist stuff gets through do STW get it in the neck from the man?
Just wondered.

"Is it someones job to go looking for nasty letters on the internet or is it just people reporting stuff they deem offensive."

To my best understanding of it all... just don't post anything that might offend anyone on facebook is about the size of it. 🙂

Potential employers will search for your details on facebook. Apparently (tm) the DWP may use it and so might insurance companies.

I would not make a facebook account with my real name even for a laugh! 🙂

I don't get this at all..I think it's because I simply don't get Facebook, blogging or tweeting.
I think if you decide to put your private grief in a public arena like Facebook then there will always be someone who responds in this fashion: Why would you even be suprised?

I would not be surprised if i left my front door open and I got robbed but a criminal act has still occurred.

A friends son has Aspergers. He's a nice kid but he has has no friends, it took several months of me visiting his dad before he'd say hello and goodbye to me. He did the special school thing, probably more because the normal school didn't want him. He's left school now and knows no one locally. He went to college and they couldn't be bothered with him. His next plan for his life is the army, which might work for him.
Or he could drift along friendless and jobless until he commits some petty offence and gets banged up.
This guy will be out in 9 months think he'll be better for it?

This guy will be out in 9 months think he'll be better for it?

interesting question, boundary setting was a huge part of the care-plans for the aspergic guy i worked with, 'you shouldnt do that, if you do then this will happen to you' was easier for the guy to understand than 'you shouldnt do that cos it hurts patients B's feelings'...

as i said above though, not my area of expertise so my experiences are limited and not up to date!

Jinges Junkyard..had a party on the day of Diana's funeral: Nothing against her in particular, just couldn't bear all the outpourings of deep sentiment from people who were falling over themselves to climb onto the emotional rollercoaster; it just seemed so false.
Have I broken the law too? 😥

I think there's a world of difference between posting something offensive about a dead person when it's being discussed on a random forum, and actively posting something that has been set up by and intended to commemorate that person by their friends and family.

As for the whole 'Free Speech' argument and the spurious comments about Muslims - on Rememberance day a couple of idiots chanted through the two minute silence and burnt some poppies. They were charged and found guilty in court too. So yeah, they had their freedom of speech stomped on like the poor troll who liked to make fun of dead children to their grieving families. Call me a fascist, but I can't really bring myself to sympathise...

"Call me a fascist, but I can't really bring myself to sympathise... "

That I won't do... but the population would be a little wiser if you learned what the word 'random' means. 🙂

"Jinges Junkyard..had a party on the day of Diana's funeral: Nothing against her in particular, just couldn't bear all the outpourings of deep sentiment from people who were falling over themselves to climb onto the emotional rollercoaster; it just seemed so false."

Never has there been so much outright hypocrisy in the media! People who were calling her an idiot one week were falling over themselves to kiss the ground she once walked on the next.

Lies and lies and more lies on top of them don't heal any wounds. 🙂

DezB - Member
I wonder how he would have got his kicks without the internet?

"Well, there's this interesting material called 'paper', made from cellulose fibre derived from trees. It actually allows a person to make marks on it with a suitable stylus-like implement, called a 'pen', or 'pencil'.
Using the two together makes it possible to send offensive, upsetting remarks to a particular recipient. "

Apparently with a bit of work on the 'tech' (for the ****nuts who can't cope with the simple word 'technology') we will soon be able to talk to each other in person and call each other on the phone too. 🙂

Indeed... maybe the internet is not the cause of all 'evils' afterall! 😉