A West Midlands man has been cleared of harassment on the social networking site Facebook – in what is thought to be the first trial of its kind in Britain.
Michael Hurst was accused of contacting former girlfriend Sophie Sladden, via Facebook on January 21. Hurst, aged 34, a carpenter from Edgbaston, Birmingham, admitted sending a “friend request” after clicking on his ex’s profile picture “out of curiosity”.
He told at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court that he had joined Facebook to see a friend’s photos of an office party.
He denied that he had tried to intimidate Ms Sladden, also of Edgbaston and told magistrates he did not believe that being “Facebook friends” was “friendship in the traditional sense.”
He added: “Chris Moyles has one and a half million Facebook friends, do you think he knows them all intimately?” Ms Sladden said that she had tightened the security settings on her Facebook profile after receiving the request.
She said: “It made me feel scared. It made me feel frightened, it made me feel insecure. It was unwanted attention which I don’t think any person should go through,” she added.
The court also heard that Hurst, who had previously received a police caution for harassing Ms Sladden, ordered a book to be delivered to her workplace. She said: “I received it at my workplace. I felt very very upset.
“It was an invasion of my life. I wanted to get on with my life. I deserve to have a life which isn’t overshadowed by an ex-partner’s actions.” The book, On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan was intended as a “kind and generous” gesture Hurst said. He added: “I had read the book and it had resonances with the relationship that Sophie and I had had. I wanted her to enjoy the book and understand and hopefully feel consoled in the same way that I had when I read it.
“It wasn’t important to me whether Sophie knew the book was from me or not, I just wanted her to have the opportunity to read it.”
Mrs Catherine Taylor, chairing the bench, said: “We believe that in sending a book that you ought to have known that this was a course of action that could be construed as harassment by the considered party. We are of the view that the Facebook incident has not been proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt.
“We have therefore dismissed the charge.”
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2 Comments
“It made me feel scared. It made me feel frightened, it made me feel insecure. It was unwanted attention which I don’t think any person should go through,”
She could just refuse the friend request - if he tried it again then perhaps that could be construed as harrassment. Jeez, some people are way too sensitive!!
Well said Greg Cooper…This is the 1st time I have ever agreed with what another commenter has wrote…but I read this and thought exactly the same thing, refuse the friend request and then block the person so they can no longer contact you, had she done that and he had found another way i.e. created a new account in order to contact her, then yes that would have been harrassment but in this case she has made herself look and sound stupid!!