An internet troll who posted videos and messages mocking the deaths of teenagers, including a girl hit by a train, has been jailed.
Sean Duffy, 25, targeted Facebook tribute pages and posted videos on YouTube taunting the dead and their families.
Among his victims was Natasha MacBryde, 15, who died instantly when hit by a passenger train near her home in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
The day after Natasha's death in February, Duffy posted comments including "I fell asleep on the track lolz" on the Facebook tribute page created by her brother James, 17.
Four days later he created a YouTube video called "Tasha the Tank Engine" featuring her face superimposed on to the front of the fictional engine.
Duffy, who is unemployed and did not know any of his victims, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending malicious communications relating to Natasha.
He asked for three other cases of Facebook trolling – posting offensive messages on the internet – to be taken into consideration when he appeared before magistrates in Reading, Berkshire.
Jailing him for 18 weeks, the chair of the bench, Paul Warren, told him: "You have caused untold distress to already grieving friends and family.
"The offences are so serious only a custodial sentence could be justified."
He went on to say that the case served as an illustration of the "harm and damage" that malicious use of social networking sites could do.
Duffy was also given a five-year antisocial behaviour order to prohibit him from creating and accessing social network sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Bebo and Myspace. He will also have to inform police of any phone he has or buys that comes with internet access.
The court heard that Duffy has Asperger's syndrome and lived a "miserable existence" drinking alcohol alone at his home in Reading.
Joanne Belsey, prosecuting, said Duffy's series of online attacks began following the death of 16-year-old Hayley Bates, from Staffordshire, who died in a car crash in September 2010.
Duffy defaced pictures of her, adding crosses over her eyes and stitches over her forehead. One caption underneath a picture of flowers at the crash site read: "Used car for sale, one useless owner."
He then went on to focus on Lauren Drew, a 14-year-old who died from an epilepsy attack at her home in Gloucester in January.
Duffy posted offensive and upsetting images relating to her death and for Mother's Day created a YouTube video with a picture of a coffin saying "Happy Mothers Day".
Public schoolgirl Natasha MacBryde was his next target. She killed herself after she was sent a message by an anonymous bully on a social networking website. She had also been teased by members of an all-girl clique at school.
Duffy set up a fake tribute page on Facebook called Tasha the Tank Engine.
On the official memorial page set up by her brother James he wrote: "I fell asleep on the track lolz," and posted images of her with text saying she was spoilt. Other trolls joined the abuse.
Duffy's final target was Jordan Cooper, 14, from Washington, Newcastle upon Tyne, who was stabbed to death.
Duffy created a group called "Jordan Cooper in pieces" with a profile picture of a knife with blood dripping off it. A further YouTube video was also made which contained pictures of his eyes crossed out and slashes across his face.
Duffy's lawyer Lance Whiteford said: "In terms of mitigation there is none. I cannot imagine the trauma and anxiety caused to the families of these horrible, despicable offences."
She said his condition meant he was not aware of the effect he was having on his victims.
Duffy had been cautioned for a similar offence in 2009 and Whiteford said he lived an isolated life and had himself been bullied at school and work.
Speaking outside court, Natasha MacBryde's father, Andrew, said: "He is a disturbed individual who caused the maximum of grief for his own satisfaction.
"I think he must be a very lonely man who unfortunately tried to get attention through the most disgusting way possible.
"In a way I feel sorry for him and I think he needs some sort of counselling as it is obviously very odd behaviour.
"I hope his sentencing shows other trollers that they are not anonymous and they will be caught if they continue their vile games."
He said he had not been able to watch the Tasha the Tank Engine video as it was too distressing. Following the sentencing, Lauren Drew's father Mark spoke of the devastation it caused her family as they struggled to come to terms with her death: "We were already having a hard time. Lauren was my only daughter and I worshipped the ground she walked on and this person was hiding behind a computer.
"He caused devastation to us and other families; for so many people. It hurts but he sits behind a computer with no feeling."
Drew called for the operators of social networking sites to take more responsibility for their content: "The web is a wonderful thing if used right but as you can see in this case it was used wrongly. These days children live on Facebook, it's their lives and they're just so vulnerable."
After the hearing police said they would continue to track down offenders like Duffy.
Det Ch Insp James Hahn, of Thames Valley police, said: "Clearly this has been a very emotive case, that has caused additional distress and suffering for families who have been trying to cope with the loss of loved ones.
"Malicious communication through social networking is a new phenomenon and unfortunately shows how technology can be abused. However, our investigation shows that offenders cannot hide behind their computer screens."
Freedom of speech, the thin line of internet anonymity, yada yada yada. I don't think people should be jailed for trolling, but every action has its consequences, and anonymity can only shield you from those consequences for so long; whether it be legal action or a proper horse whipping.
Truth be told, I couldn't even pretend to care, I just thought this article was hilarious, and thus posted accordingly.
André Kujikawa Global Moderator I'm the VAC's hottest J-Pop idol, teehee! member is offline
DING DONG BANNUED
Joined: Dec 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 16,777,215
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #1 on Sept 14, 2011, 11:10pm »
>asperger's syndrome I stopped reading.
I'm sorry, but honestly that name keeps popping either too fast a'la excuse and too many times. It lost meaning and honestly if people suffer from this, they need special education.
The court heard that Duffy has Asperger's syndrome and lived a "miserable existence" drinking alcohol alone at his home in Reading.
[...]
She said his condition meant he was not aware of the effect he was having on his victims.
BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.
Any reasonably functioning person, Aspie or no, would at least have an understanding that if you can't think of anything nice to say to a grieving person, you just don't say anything. Unless you're borderline autistic with no interest or exposure to anything but baseball stats and the various colors of yellow crayons found in the 96-size box of Crayola, then maybe. And even then, that's well beyond classification as Asperger's.
The fact that he's a miserable piece-of-shit ALCOHOLIC is what drove him to do stupid shit like that, which may have been derived from a bad lifetime of Asperger's, but it's certainly not the direct cause of his malicious behavior. He may not have recognized the EXTENT of his maliciousness due to "his condition" (though alcoholism is really his condition), but he knew full well as a functioning person (who has no need of full-time caretaking to keep him away from booze, as it seems) that he wasn't cheering anybody up.
I'm glad he got a short while in jail for being a complete jackwad. I'm not happy that the reporter felt the need to relay fairly impertinent information as if it WAS pertinent.
EDIT: Also, there's trolling, which is minorly irritating, and there's being a cunt-face, which is vicious. That guy was not trolling.
« Last Edit: Sept 14, 2011, 11:50pm by Davyinatoga »
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 16,777,215 Location: Non-Australia
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #3 on Sept 14, 2011, 11:50pm »
It's an insult to those who are actually diagnosed with it, and people who do have it actually, you know, have more class than that. There's Aspergers, and then there's just being an arsehole.
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #4 on Sept 15, 2011, 12:34am »
People who use their mental illnesses as excuses for why they are complete assholes should be jailed for life... okay... maybe not life, but at least a very long time to say the least. I was diagnosed with Aspergers, but you don't see me being a complete asshole to people who don't deserve it. Especially people who were killed in such a tragic way.
Joined: Feb 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 4,537 Location: Southern CA, USA
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #6 on Sept 15, 2011, 3:03am »
Aiyaaaa... So, while everyone zoomed in on the aspie parts and already said the stuff I agree with, I was tilting my head to the side at the "anti-trolls" angle this article was going for. Tried to look at this from a "why would he even do something this horrible and stupid" kind of way, without laying blame to his mental disorder, since we all know how weak of an argument that is in this situation.
I know trolls come in all kinds of varieties, to genuinely witty and funny ones to those that THINK they're funny but suck really bad at it. In general, I think trolls just try to be funny... In their peculiar, "haha, i made j00 upset so im funni" kind of way, if they're more on the "mean" side.
But I just want to say that I start drawing lines around death, especially when it comes to trying to further upset those who've lost loved ones. I know some people deal with grief through humor (why else do we have so many funny euphemisms for death?), but not everyone copes with grief the same way. I personally think it's rude to assume that dealing with negative emotions is one-size-fits-all when everyone perceives pain differently and when they're going through different stages of grief (which can even be "out of order" and "back and forth" between stages).
So maybe in a sick twisted way, this troll thought it's funny to find grieving families and troll them. I've actually heard from a friend that he saw some trolls on Newgrounds mocking someone whose dog died, which ain't cool at all, but maybe they were having a lapse of stupid and thought it was funny. The troll who trolled grieving families? It seems as if he actually put in effort to bring grief, or "lulz" I don't know, which is pretty messed up if you ask me.
Their rules be different from ours. Evidently, you give people enough shit, and, yeah, they can jail you for it. Not saying I agree, but, that seem to be their law.
Quote:
People with asperger's are relatively awkward to talk to
People with asperger's are literally tards. Mentally Retarded. That's the part that shocks the shit out of me; that they are so willing to admit that! "Oh guys, sorry, I have a hard time with some social stuff, because I'm literally retarded." Don't you think they'd try their hardest to hide that shit?!
This seems to be a 99% white person problem too. Whities never like admitting that they fucked up, or that they are having a hard time with something, they instead say "Oh, I have really bad allergies/learning disability/physical disability." They are willing to...almost proudly...state that they are broken/flawed just so they don't have to deal with their fuckups.
Not saying that many people don't have a lot of maladies, but, fuck white people, show some god damned pride.
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 1,512 Location: San Jose, CA
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #8 on Sept 15, 2011, 11:26am »
But wait, there's more:
Quote:
AN internet bully jailed for leaving sick “trolling” messages on tribute pages for dead children may have targeted at least two more victims.
Sean Duffy, 25, has now been charged with posting offensive Facebook images about Sophie Taylor, 16, who was accidentally shot dead by her boyfriend.
And grieving dad Trevor Porter yesterday claimed Duffy may have put vile messages and photos on another Facebook page after his daughter Charlotte, 17, died from a huge blood clot.
The jobless loner was given a maximum 18-week sentence on Tuesday for posting online slurs against four other dead teenagers he did not know, in a practice known as trolling.
But Trevor believes the full extent of Duffy’s crimes may not yet have been exposed. Trevor Porter with his daughter Charlotte
Trevor Porter with his daughter Charlotte
Charlotte died last year after suffering deep vein thrombosis. Four months ago a Facebook page was set up under the name “Charlotte Pikey”, showing a defaced picture of her with crosses over her eyes, red “acne spots” on her face and a caption saying “DVT Kills Pikeys Dead”. Another picture showed her grave with the caption “My swanky new home – rent free, Ha Ha Ha”.
Financial adviser Trevor, 64, of Maidstone, Kent, told the Mirror how the attacks had also left Charlotte’s mum Beverly, 49, and sisters Jennifer, 24, and Jessica, 22, in shock.
“We still find some too upsetting to read but they do bear striking similarities to posts attributed to Duffy in court,” he said.
“I think it was him. It’s more than coincidence and something must be done. Facebook have a lot of responsibility but I think they shy away from it. We tried to contact them at the time but could not speak to anyone.
“Jailing Duffy for 18 weeks is a slap on the wrist with a wet lettuce leaf. He’ll be out in nine weeks. I’d like to string him up but, emotion aside, I think 18 months would’ve been more appropriate.
“He should be made to visit the graves of those kids and see the grief he caused. We are serving a life sentence and shouldn’t have to endure this too.”
Duffy, of Reading, Berks, was charged by Grampian Police over “offensive images” on a Facebook page set up as a tribute to Sophie in April. A report is being prepared for the procurator fiscal.
Sophie’s trainee gamekeeper boyfriend Calum Murray killed her on the Glenavon estate in Moray when a gun apparently went off as he cleaned it. Grief-stricken Calum, 18, then shot himself dead. Duffy is accused of posting fake photos of Sophie with a bullet hole in her head.
Facebook said last night: “When abuse is reported to us we act swiftly to remove it.”
Among Duffy’s targets was train suicide girl Natasha MacBryde, 15, of Bromsgrove, Worcs. Taunts included putting her on a YouTube video he called Tasha the Tank Engine.
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 1,479 Location: Rockford, Illinois
Re: Man arrested for trolling. « Reply #9 on Sept 15, 2011, 2:47pm »
Holy Shit! That was fucking stupid for someone trolling over the net, even the person who has Asperger's syndrome Is nothing but an asshole who has Asperger's syndrome making the one who has Asperger's syndrome look bad. Including me. Nuff said.
This guy, in the world of psychology, would be classified as a psychopath, with his malicious behavior, with no remorse or empathy at all.
/thread
He sought pleasure out of hurting other people. Sociopaths also have trouble understanding social cues and often have an alcohol or drug addiction. This guy was a sociopath hiding behind the label of Asperger's.
And Aramek, I remind you to tone it down again with the name calling. There are several people on this board who have Asperger's and it's just a simple show of respect, regardless of your personal opinion.
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