LISTEN HERE
Jessica Goyder is the latest musician to put her singles on our site. Listen here
| THE INSIDER
Get the lowdown inside the corridors of power in Oxfordshire here.
| SEND AN OBITUARY
Send us a tribute to someone who has passed away
| ON YER BIKE
Get the view from the gutter with cycling group Cyclox in Oxfordshire
|
|
|
|
Cyber-stalker gets jail term
 |
| Felicity Jane Lowde was jailed yesterday for her campaign of hate |
A cyber-stalker who carried out a "vicious, vitriolic and vindictive" harassment campaign against a July 7 bombing survivor was jailed yesterday.
Felicity Jane Lowde, 41, of Jackson Road, Cutteslowe, Oxford, used her blog and email to wage a hate-filled crusade of harassment for more than a year.
Her target, Rachel North, 36, admitted she had endured a "difficult year" after being bombarded with abusive web messages from Lowde.
Among more than 100 postings Ms North was accused of "making a living on the backs of the dead".
Ms North gave up her job to fight for an independent inquiry into the London bombings after surviving the Piccadilly Line blast which killed 26 people.
Lowde was convicted of harassment in her absence when she failed to appear in court in April and went on the run.
But yesterday she was jailed for six months and given a restraining order plus an Antisocial Behaviour Order (Asbo) for five years at London's Thames Magistrates' Court.
Judge Malcolm Read told her she had struck at Ms North's "terrible experience and trauma" as a victim of the London bombings.
Lowde, who has a grown-up son, told the court she intended to appeal her conviction.
She was charged under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 for the abuse waged at Ms North between May, 2006 and January, 2007.
Ms North, who married in April, said the abuse had deepened her post-traumatic stress disorder, her sense of survivor guilt and left her fearing for her safety.
She said: "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me - my husband, my family, my friends, other web users, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service."
She also thanked the Oxford Mail for helping to trace Lowde - by passing on information to the police, from replies made by Lowde to our own website.
She said: "It has clearly been a difficult year for me and other victims. However, as Ms Lowde has stated she is going to appeal, this process is not over."
Among those other victims was Oxford graphic designer Daniel Hart, from Cowley, who has said he was left fearing for his safety after months of online abuse from Lowde.
Ms North said she wanted to put the whole incident to rest and had deleted the 400-day account of her ordeal from her blog.
She had set up her blog, under the name of Rachel from North London, to help other blast victims.
Lowde responded to the blog but it was not long before "her sneer of cold contempt was writ large in her emails" to Ms North, prosecutor Jonathon McGarry said.
He said: "She was asked to stop this vicious, vitriolic and vindictive campaign and chose not to do so."
Police eventually caught up with Lowde at a cafe in Brick Lane, Whitechapel, east London, following a tip-off.
6:00am Friday 29th June 2007
Print 
Email this
CommentPosted by: Tom, cyberspace on 2:59pm Fri 29 Jun 07
This woman is not the issue, as she would like to become. The issue is an enquiry into the four suspects who can never be charged because they are apparently dead, and the suspected ringleader who is not being extradited.
This woman is not the issue, as she would like to become. The issue is an enquiry into the four suspects who can never be charged because they are apparently dead, and the suspected ringleader who is not being extradited.
Posted by: Rubbish on 11:36pm Fri 29 Jun 07
FJL is a bully - Tom - ure trolling to build a case. Lowdes a bully - she got what she deserved.
FJL is a bully - Tom - ure trolling to build a case. Lowdes a bully - she got what she deserved.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!