Man guilty of harassment after Olivia online posts

Paul Hendry had shared posts which police feared could have disrupted the Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder trial

A man who was warned by police over social media posts he made about the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel has been found guilty of harassment.

The Merseyside force was concerned Paul Hendry's comments could have disrupted Thomas Cashman's murder trial.

A month later he wrongly named innocent people as being linked to other murder cases, leading to a man being assaulted.

His claims were "nothing but fiction", prosecutors said.

Hendry, 59, described himself as a "citizen journalist", Wirral Magistrates Court heard.

He was found guilty of harassment without violence and fined a total of £1,010.

Hendry commented on criminal cases around the UK under the alias of "Art Hostage" to 11,000 followers on Twitter and on YouTube, where he has more than 7,200 subscribers.

'Revel in chaos'

Merseyside Police issued a "cease and desist order" over his posts about the killing of nine-year-old Olivia, who was shot by Cashman after he chased a fellow drug dealer into her home last August.

Officers were concerned that Hendry's comments could disrupt the trial.

He promised to abide by it but weeks later commented on another Merseyside murder case, naming people he claimed were involved.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Hendry's claims had "caused several issues in the communities where the murders has taken place".

"The unfounded information led to one man being assaulted," they said.

Paul Hendry had thousands of followers on Twitter and YouTube

A CPS spokeswoman said Hendry "seemed to revel in the chaos he had caused" and that he tweeted in all-caps that "all out war declared".

Police received a 999 call from one of the named men, who said Hendry had accused him of being a "high-level gangster" and implicated him in a murder.

The video had given his address and business details, with Hendry telling his followers to "look into it".

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Hendry was later charged with harassment and sharing false information publicly but defended himself by saying his victim would not be caused distress because he was a "scumbag criminal".

However, police inquiries found the victim had "nothing to do" with the crimes he was being connected with.

Senior Crown Prosecutor, Thomas Hanlon, said Hendry claimed "to be a form of crime journalist".

"But his social media posts were nothing but fiction claiming to be fact and caused real problems for those involved."

He said Hendry "creates this content to raise the profile of his social media and YouTube channels, feeding his ego, reckless as to the collateral damage his content causes and without conducting due diligence on the information received".

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