Rachel's Stalker Finally Locked Up

Some good news. Felicity Jane Lowde (FJL) who has been harassing and stalking Rachel North and others, has at last been caught and dealt with by the authorities. I didn't want to post on this news until Rachel herself commented on the proceedings. Now that she has, I feel I can join with the other bloggers who have already expressed their relief at this sorry episode coming to an end.

After well over a year of harassment which involved hundreds of abusive e-mails and comments on blogs, extremely hurtful (and false) allegations and numerous attack blogs, and after having been arrested, bailed, breaking the terms of her bail and then absconding from the court (which tried her and found her guilty in absentia), FJL was tracked down in a cyber-cafe and arrested. She has now been remanded in custody until the end of June pending psychiatric reports. Hopefully after returning to court she will be sentenced and given the help she obviously needs.

This saga is too long to go into in any great depth here but for the background into this case, here is a good starting point. An interesting aspect of all this is the contribution made by so many bloggers in bringing FJL to justice. Once Rachel asked for help, the British blog community rose to the occasion and helped in various ways - putting buttons on their websites, and some by logging the IP address of the computer FJL used when posting comments and passing it on to the police. Devil's Kitchen and Mike Rouse deserve praise for creating the blog buttons. Unity over at Ministry of Truth also deserves particular praise for his help and also for writing a very informative post on the possible personality disorder that FJL might be suffering from (Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD). I heartily second what Unity says in his post on FJL's capture:

If there’s a message in this that people should take note of its that whatever our differences in opinion and outlook, we Brit Bloggers look after our own when the need arises.

Of course the question as to whether this really is the end of this story is still a matter of debate - there is still a possible appeal hearing to go through. The maximum sentence FJL can be handed for this crime is six months imprisonment or a £5,000 fine, although Unity does point out in his comment thread that the Mental Health Act provides further options and also that the court can use CRASBOs (Criminal ASBOs) which could mean five years imprisonment if they are breached. I think it is fairly evident that FJL is suffering from some sort of mental health problem. The thought that nags me is the old dilemma of putting people with mental health problems in prison as opposed to a more suitable institution. Because FJL breached the terms of her bail and went on the run to continue her abuse shows that some sort of custody is necessary and merely banning someone from using the internet is clearly unenforceable.

For the moment, however, we can be relieved that FJL is, for the time being at least, unable to continue her sustained campaign of abuse against Rachel and others who can now hopefully get on with their lives in peace. FJL's delusional lies about being an innocent victim stalked by Rachel and "her mob" have been shattered along with her other frankly laughable claims. We can only hope that the relevant authorities recognise her need for treatment and provide it while keeping her away from the internet.

There is also one more aspect to this and that is the role of the companies who host abusive blogs*. This is a tricky issue because of freedom of speech concerns and what is regarded as abusive. Google are always reluctant to shut down blogs which others claim to be abusive. If they did so at the drop of a hat it could lead to the shutting down of blogs being used as a weapon by warring bloggers. However, if someone has been tried and convicted by a court of law for using their blogs (in part) as way to harass and abuse their victims and ordered to stay away from the internet by a judge, then it doesn't seem to me to be impossible to have that blog (or blogs in this case) removed, especially when preventing access to the internet is unenforceable and the continued blogging seems to exacerbate a possible personality disorder.

I'm not sure I have the answer to this but I do know that Google have shut down blogs when they have been shown to be full of deeply offensive racist content and incitements to violence and racial hatred, for example. And I would prefer bloggers and their hosting companies to act rather than see clumsy and heavy-handed legislation imposed on everyone by legislators who have no idea about how the internet and blogging work and which would have extremely dangerous consequences for freedom of speech and diversity of opinion. As I say, it's a tricky issue (not least because of the different laws in the USA and UK) but in FJL's case (and others like it) where criminal activity has been legally proven, shutting down the relevant blogs should at least be an option if it helps.

* By abusive blogs I don't mean blogs that swear or use colourful language to make points, or that mock or insult politicians or other opponents, that's just part of blogging and this blog is just as likely as any other to do that. What I'm referring to here are blogs that are used as part of sustained campaigns of harassment against undeserving individuals (as in FJL's case) or blogs that are used to loudly call for the extermination of an entire race. I think there is a very clear distinction here but one I wouldn't trust governments to make.

Tags: Cyber-Stalking, Blogging