Woman becomes first person jailed for ‘trolling herself’ online

A British woman who used fake Facebook profiles to send herself hundreds of abusive messages has been jailed for 20 months.

Michelle Chapman, from Cornwall, is thought to be the first person in the UK to have been prosecuted for “trolling” herself.

Chapman set up fake accounts in the name of her father and new stepmother; sending herself hundreds of abusive messages of ‘very unpleasant sexual nature’ before reporting them to the police, court heard.

She was cautioned for a similar offence back in 2009- yet police still took her allegations seriously.

Her father, Roy Jackson, and stepmother, Louise, were arrested and given a warning as a result. Her year-long campaign only came to an end after forensic Internet inquiries revealed both accounts had been created at her own address.

Prosecutor Philip Lee said Chapman “wanted to make their life hell” and sought “revenge on her father for matters in the past”.

She fell out with her in-laws after attempting a reunion with his father, whom she had not seen for 21 years. But there was an altercation and she became “upset”.

Chapman began her revenge by setting up a fake account for her new stepmother to send offensive messages to her father in a desperate attempt to break them up. She then spent a year “trolling” herself online.

More on one of the most disturbing acts by a woman since porn pariah Monica Foster threatened herself online and outed her own family for attention…