A British student won a £10,000 payout in a high court ruling after a Facebook "friend" called him him a paedophile and posted pictures of child porn to his page.
Jeremiah Barber was found to have posted the child porn image to Raymond Bryce's profile after the two fell out over a row about £80. Alongside the image he posted a message in November 2008 which read "Ray, you like the kids and you are gay so I bet you love this picture, Ha ha."
Unfortunately for Barber the porn was illegal. While he removed the post in 24 hours he was sentenced to 150 hours of community service for distributing the illegal image. But Barber also seemed to forget that the bloke he was defaming was a
law student at Stafford University and thus would have access to legal advice.
Bryce clamed that more than 800 people could have viewed the offending post, and the London High Court awarded the £10,000 payment this week on the basis of the stress and anxiety this would have caused. Bryce said he had been shocked when he saw the "repulsive and disgusting" picture, for which he had never received an apology.
With friends like these...
Nick Farell
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