Stalker who tormented business associate jailed
Daniel Newby bombarded his victim with messages on social media
At a glance
Daniel Newby sent the woman more than a thousand messages online
He also posted pictures of his victim’s face photoshopped onto sexually explicit images
She branded his actions a "callous campaign of hate"
Newby was jailed for more than two years at Preston Crown Court
- Published
A "callous stalker" who carried out a malicious harassment campaign against a former business associate has been jailed.
Daniel Newby was handed a 25-month prison sentence after he bombarded the woman, aged in her 50s, with explicit messages and death threats.
The 44-year-old of St John's Drive, Preston, sent the woman about 1,200 messages on Twitter between September 2016 and April 2019.
His victim, from Kent, welcomed the jail term and branded his actions a "callous campaign of hate".
Preston Crown Court heard how Newby created a website where he posted pictures of his victim’s face photoshopped onto sexually explicit images, as well as personal information about her, including medical details.
Specifically, he posted that she had previously taken an overdose, adding the caption: “She’s not very good at committing suicide, maybe we can club together and do it for her.”
Newby told police he had carried out the harassment as he had previously had business dealings with the victim.
The victim of Newby’s offending described him as a "cold-hearted and callous stalker".
She said: "Newby acted as part of a gang who tried to encourage me to end my own life and engaged in an obsessive and callous campaign of hate spanning a period of seven years.
“Newby created deep-fake sexual images of me engaged in a series of sex acts, and also created fake documents including fake newspaper articles.
“His language was violent and degrading, he discussed how to cause me maximum harm in the hope that I would die by my own hand or incite others to harm me.”
'Malicious campaign'
The victim called for a change in the law to ensure that anyone engaged in the making of such explicit images could be charged with a sexual offence.
PC Adam Lake, the investigating officer, said: “This was a sustained and malicious campaign of harassment which Newby engaged in, knowing it would cause distress and worry for the victim."
The officer said Newby's behaviour was "absolutely unacceptable" and hoped it would show that "hiding behind a website or username online does not make you any less guilty of a crime".