Woman becomes first person to be jailed for trolling herself

 February 2014 A 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. She admitted doing actions tending or intended to
pervert the course of justice by sending herself
degrading e-mails between February 2011 and
March 2012, at an earlier hearing. Her lawyer, Martin Pearce, said she suffered from
mental health problems and wishes "she had not
done it". Sentencing her to 20 months in prison, Judge
Harvey Clark said: "People have suffered a great
deal of distress as a result of your wicked
behaviour." Her husband, Glyn Chapman, said his wife was
crying for help. He added: "She is the victim, she has mental
health issues and it was a cry for help. She has not
had the help she needs. "This is what you do when you're in desperate,
desperate need of help - you scream out." Chapman has been given a restraining order and
her computer was confiscated.