Smear Campaign Lands Man in Court

Homebuyer 'launched smear campaign' against estate agents

after being gazumped

By James Tozer

(U.K., 2010) Martin Frostick is alleged to have sent out faxes falsely claiming the estate agent had gone bust

A gazumped homeowner took drastic revenge by launching a smear campaign to try to drive the estate agency he blamed out of business, a court heard today.

Martin Frostick, 53, was so aggrieved at losing the house that he circulated bogus bankruptcy petitions falsely claiming the Ryder & Dutton chain was going bust, it was alleged.

As a result, the agency was 'deluged' with inquires from clients worried about its financial state, the court heard.

It had to issue urgent public statements dismissing the notices as a 'malicious rumour' to save its reputation from being fatally damaged, it was claimed.

Frostick allegedly walked into a branch of the agency - based in Oldham, Greater Manchester - last June demanding information about a house sale back in 1997.

The complaint related to a house he had owned which had been repossessed, and he had later been gazumped in a sale, the court was told.

Staff said they didn't keep records that far back and Frostick left, slamming the door.

The following day he sent an email to Richard Powell, one of the directors, said Roderick Priestley, prosecuting at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester.

'It was some sort of grievance the defendant had with the firm over a repossession of a house which Mr Frostick owned in Oldham. He seemed to have been gazumped in a sale.'

Mr Powell then received 'abusive and threatening' faxes followed by a document purporting be a petition regarding the winding up of Ryder & Dutton, the court heard.

Mr Priestley said the notice was a fictitious one drawn up by Frostick. 'It was made by the defendant to damage the company,' he added.

The firm called the police after receiving a further email from Frostick containing 31 pages of names and numbers of companies to which he allegedly planned to send the fax.
Ryder & Dutton estate agents in Royton near Oldham

In addition, Frostick allegedly circulated a copy of an article from the London Gazette - which carries insolvency notices - altered to suggest Ryder & Dutton had gone bust.

He is also accused of sending a newspaper article about the collapse of Northern Rock which had been manipulated to carry the firm's name instead.

'The firm was deluged with enquires about the financial health of the company,' Mr Priestley said.

One leasing firm actually terminating a contract as a result of the rumours.

'What this man did caused significant inconvenience, stress and time,' Mr Priestley told the jury.

'So in order to protect their reputation they issued an urgent statement where they made it very clear that this was a dishonest and malicious rumour.

'What is clear is that Mr Frostick perceives that he has been wronged and 11 years later has decided to proceed with a complaint.

'But he, in effect, says because they wouldn't respond successfully to him, he then embarked upon this campaign.'

Frostick of Delph, near Oldham, was arrested two weeks later. Told about the cancelling of the lease agreement, he allegedly retorted: 'Good, I'm delighted.'

The trial heard Frostick admits coming up with the idea but denies fraud by making false representations.



ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

Someone can only be DEFAMED if what you are saying about them is FALSE, NOT FULLY VERIFIABLE, ASSUMED FROM SCANT INFORMATION or UNTRUE.

If it IS TRUE - it is not: defamation, slander and/or libel. And you'd best be able to PROVE IN A COURT OF LAW that it is true. (Information that might possibly indicate something or you are assuming it indicates something is usually non-admissible.)

EOPC is held legally harmless - all claims of posted misinformation must be pursued THROUGH THE PERSON THAT SIGNED THE RELEASE TO US AND SUBMITTED IT IN THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.

U.K. Threatens to Post Intimate Photos of His Ex Online

A MAN from rural north Northumberland threatened to post intimate pictures of his teenage ex-girlfriend online after their relationship broke down.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in court in Berwick last week charged with harassing his ex-girlfriend’s father and grandmother.

The court heard he also called her a ‘dog’ and alleged she was promiscuous in texts to the 17 year-old’s father and grandmother.

Magistrates heard that the 26-year-old, who pleaded guilty, had sent the texts and made phone calls to his ex-girlfriend’s family after their two-year relationship broke down and she started seeing another man.

James Long, prosecuting, said the girl’s family had never approved of the relationship and when it ended he said the defendant sent a text message to her father which said ‘your daughter is a dog’.

This was then repeated in other texts the defendant sent to her father over a period of a few days in January.

Mr Long said that the girl’s grandmother also received phone calls and text messages from the defendant, which he said were ‘abusive and threatening’.

He said the defendant then started to threaten the girl’s grandmother that if they contacted the police he would post pictures of his ex-girlfriend on the internet.

Mr Long said that the grandmother believed from the threats that these pictures were of a ‘sexual nature’.

In other messages to the girl’s grandmother, the defendant called the teen a ‘dirty little slag’ and alleged she slept around.

Mr Long added that on receiving the first text the grandmother had replied that she was going to contact the police, while the girl’s father had not responded to any of them.

Ian O’Rourke, defending, said that his client and the 17-year-old had since got back together and were planning to move away in an attempt to re-build their relationship.

He said: “The defendant and X are now back together and their take on this is that it is just her family ganging up on him. It’s probable that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
The context of this case is that X and the defendant had a relationship of in excess of two years. This started when she was 15 and at one stage she was pregnant and last year had a termination."

“It is fair to say that her family did not approve of the defendant – they did not get on at all.
“They split up as there was another man involved and then text messages and telephone calls started going between the defendant and X, essentially being childish and abusive to each other. The defendant then involved her father in this and it is fair to say on his behalf that there are not that many messages to her dad.”

Mr O’Rourke added: “He accepts by his plea that it was quite wrong of him to send the texts to X’s father and grandmother at all. They were not appropriate at all and were conducive to harassment.

“The threats about putting photos on Facebook was a two-way thing, as X had intimate photos of him and threatened to put them on Facebook. It does seem rather childish,” he said.

The case was adjourned for three weeks for reports.


original article here

Woman Jailed for Sending Threatening Texts -- to Herself

An California woman was sentenced to a year in jail for sending hundreds of threatening text messages — to herself. Prosecutors said Jeanne Mundango Manunga told police her former boyfriend and his sister-in-law were behind the threats.

Manunga was sentenced Friday in Santa Ana Superior Court. She was convicted in May of three felony counts of false imprisonment by fraud or deceit and two misdemeanor counts of making a false police report.

Prosecutors said Manunga started sending the threatening messages after she and her former boyfriend stopped dating in 2008.

Manunga also was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay about $50,000 in restitution.

original article here

Ex- Sheriff's Deputy Charged with Felony Over E-Threat

By Dan Nienaber

(MINNESOTA) A former Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with a felony for an alleged e-mail threat he sent to other deputies in November.

The terroristic threats charge was filed Wednesday against Richard Glenn Miller, 36, of Mankato. Miller resigned from his job as a deputy in December after being placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 11.

That was the day Miller allegedly sent an e-mail, with the subject “Union Contract,” to 14 other deputies at 5:46 a.m. He was the only deputy on duty at the time, the criminal complaint said.

After discussing upcoming union negotiations, Miller allegedly ended the e-mail with, “We absolutely need to have this added to our contract and if we don’t I’m gonna bring a gun into our office and shoot this place and everyone to hell.” The e-mail allegedly ended with “MILLER” in all capital letters.

Miller was put on administrative leave later that day after the e-mail was shown to Lt. David Karge and Capt. Rich Murry. Miller allegedly told Karge and Murry, who went to his house to confront him, that the e-mail was a joke, and he ends all of his e-mails with a “bit of his sense of humor,” the complaint said. Miller’s squad car, M16 rifle and handgun were taken at that time.

All of the deputies who received the e-mail, as well as Karge and Murry, were interviewed by Sgt. Steve Collins of the Scott County Sheriff’s Department. Three of the deputies said they felt threatened by the e-mail and several said they felt “slightly alarmed,” Collins reported.

Others said they weren’t threatened but could understand how the e-mail could be perceived as a threat, the complaint said.

Miller said Wednesday that he never intended to harm or threaten anyone.

“It was an expression meant in a humorous way, and it was taken out of context,” Miller said. “It was a phrase that’s commonly used.

“If I would have known I was going to threaten someone with what I said, I most certainly wouldn’t have said it.”

Miller also said it might have been a mistake to make the comment in an e-mail because it’s more difficult to convey that a phrase is meant to be humorous. If he would have said it in person, the other deputies would have seen him smiling and understood it wasn’t meant to be a threat, he said.

“They were co-workers and friends,” Miller said. “It’s a real tight group of people. Whenever you’re dealing with union negotiations, you always try to lighten the mood.

“It’s really hurtful that someone would think I’m capable of something like that. I’ve spent the last 13 years of my life trying to help people. To be accused of something like that is really hurtful.”

After Miller’s resignation, Blue Earth County Chief Deputy Mike Maurer would not disclose why Miller had been placed on paid leave or the reason for his resignation. Maurer would only say there was an internal investigation and that the Scott County department had been asked to do a criminal investigation.

The investigation ended in early January and was turned over to the Brown County attorney’s office to decide if any criminal charges should be filed. Scott and Brown counties were asked to help to avoid any conflicts of interest, Maurer said.

Miller, who had been a Blue Earth County deputy since 1999, had been disciplined twice before by superiors, according to personnel records available to the public.

In 2005, he was suspended for 10 hours without payhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif for failing to complete two training courses. He also was suspended without pay for one work week in February 2002 after he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. In that incident, Miller also was accused of distracting a state trooper so he would be pulled over instead of an intoxicated friend who was driving another car.

original article here

Two Arrested for Cyberstalking

(LOUISIANA) Two women were arrested on charges of cyberstalking Thursday for sending threatening messages through Myspace, deputies said.

Latasha Renee Charles, 21, 318 Railroad Ave., and Aalijah Monique Charles, 26, 1 Stonesthrow Drive, are accused of threatening bodily harm against a 25-year-old woman in the messages, Sheriff’s Maj. Malcolm Wolfe said. Deputies viewed several messages allegedly sent by the pair after the 25-year-old contacted authorities, he said.

The woman confirmed they sent the message after their arrest, Wolfe said.

Both have been released from the Terrebonne Parish jail, authorities said.

original article here