An online troll who tormented a woman with abusive messages for nine months has been jailed.
Natasha Dawn targeted the woman on Twitter and Instagram after becoming angry that she had defended celebrity Danniella Westbrook.
The woman stuck up for Ms Westbrook – best known for starring in EastEnders – after 43-year-old Dawn had used social media to troll the television personality.
Dawn was arrested in August 2019 after subjecting the woman to months of online abuse and false accusations.
Offending posts wrongly accused the woman of abusing children and lying about a cancer diagnosis. Dawn also made taunts about the woman’s dead mother.
The victim told police she blocked Dawn’s social media accounts but that she then created new accounts under different names to send more abuse.
She told police Dawn had sent her 20-80 offensive tweets and messages most days for nine months.
Investigations found Dawn had sent abusive messages to a number of other people on social media.
Dawn, of Sheridan Court, Stapleford, was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, 19 November, after pleading guilty to three counts of stalking.
Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Lee Kirk said: “Dawn’s behaviour throughout this period was genuinely shocking and I am pleased she has now been brought to justice.
“Our investigations found she had abused a number of people on social media and I hope this sentence provides her victims with some degree of comfort.
“Stalking behaviors such as harassment shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone at any time and I want to send out a clear message that in Nottinghamshire it will not be accepted.”
Nottinghamshire Police was recently praised by the Government for its work to prevent stalking. In a letter to Chief Constable Craig Guildford, Rachel Maclean MP, parliamentary under secretary of state for safeguarding, hailed the force’s effective use of new Stalking Prevention Orders to protect victims.
