‘Sadist’ troll who called dead student a ‘prostitute’ on her Facebook tribute page is jailed
The troll admitted he carried out the abuse because he was "bored" and sent screenshots of sick comments to a friend so they "both could laugh"
A TWISTED internet troll who abused the grieving families of dead children on social media has been jailed for 14 months.
Vile Paul Hind targeted the Facebook tribute pages of dead young Brits, using fake accounts to call one 20-year-old student a "prostitute" and post pictures of terminally ill children on her page.
Hind's sick comments "defaced with obscenities" the memorial page of Olivia Burt, a Durham University student who was crushed to death by a barrier as she queued for a nightclub.
He set up a fake account using a slightly different spelling of Olivia's name and used it to brand her a "sex worker", post offensive comments and leave sickening replies to legitimate messages of condolences from her grieving family and friends.
The troll also targeted murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge, who died in Thailand, Joe Tilley, who was found dead in South America and Duncan Sim, whose remains were found on St. Andrews beach.
Prosecutor Neil Pallister told South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court: "The defendant posted what the Crown say were grossly offensive or abusive messages to Facebook accounts relating to people who were deceased."
Mr Pallister said Hind even defaced a photograph of Olivia and added: "Her teeth had been blacked out, a moustache had been drawn across her upper lip, silly fake eyebrows were drawn on.
"To the left side of her face was four Swastikas.
"There was a line drawn across her neck on the photo, which said 'cut here'."
Olivia's family branded Hind a "sick sadist", said the comments made them feel "physically sick" and added to their tremendous heartache.
Her father Nigel Burt stood in the witness box at the hearing at said the messages were a "desecration to her memory and character".
He added: "It has made us both feel physically sick and caused us huge suffering.
"Her death is still very recent and causing us tremendous hurt as we struggle to come to terms with the loss.
"The person who carried out this can only be described as a sick sadist who knows they are adding to our anguish."
The court heard Hind had set up a fake Twitter account to troll Hannah Witheridge, four years after her murder in Thailand.
Her sister Laura Witheridge told the court the posts were "as much an attack on Hannah as it was on my family" and said the comments were "particularly cruel and callous".
She added: "Hannah is unable to defend herself.
"Trolling the living is terrible enough. Trolling the deceased is an absolute atrocity."
Hind admitted he carried out the abuse because he was "bored" and wanted "attention".
He also took screenshots of the abuse to send to friends so they "both could laugh".
Judge Penny Moreland said the offences were of "unbelievable callousness" and she told Hind: "You targeted bereaved families with obscene and offensive messages."
Judge Moreland said "it is hard to understand how anyone could do that" and added: "You heard what you did to those people, they have described the devastating effect upon them.
"It is horrific to hear from Miss Witheridge that the police warned her that families could expect to be victims of torment, of offensive and abuse messages in the wake of such bereavement.
"It is dreadful to hear yours was were the most cowardly and callous of
them."
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Acting Detective Inspector Lindsay Banks-Brown, from Durham Constabulary, said: "We are pleased with today's outcome and hope it sends a clear message that we treat trolling as a serious offence which brings serious consequences.
"The families of Hind's victims have suffered an unimaginable tragedy and his actions have only compounded their suffering.
"I hope today's sentence serves as a warning to others that if they commit such offences, they will be dealt with and they will be brought to justice.
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