Woman harassed for 12 years by online date gets damages

9 July 2018

A woman who was harassed for 12 years by a man she met through an online dating website is to receive damages.

Paul Curran's campaign against Lindsey Goldrick Dean involved creating at least 10 websites about her containing offensive and private information.

The High Court in London heard it had adversely affected her health, relationships and professional career.

The court also heard Mr Curran had agreed to pay undisclosed damages to Ms Goldrick Dean and her legal costs.

Ms Goldrick Dean, a former marketing consultant from Somerset, met Mr Curran, director of Curran Consulting Ltd, through a newspaper dating website in 2004.

Counsel Gervase de Wilde told the court Mr Curran "engaged in a course of conduct" after their relationship ended in February 2005 which amounted to "civil harassment".

Between March 2005 and August 2017 the company director created at least 10 websites, some of which were named after Ms Goldrick Dean.

The sites' content caused Ms Goldrick Dean "enormous anxiety, mental distress and embarrassment", the court heard.

'Glad it's over'

In 2014, Mr Curran bought a Google banner advertisement which included a photo of Ms Goldrick Dean and a link to one of the websites.

A year later, he created two Twitter accounts using her name which he used to post messages containing her photo and a website link.

Mr de Wilde said the campaign - which included emails, telephone calls and posts sent to Ms Goldrick Dean, her family and friends - continued despite her complaining to police on several occasions.

The police made plans to arrest Mr Curran but found that he was living outside the UK much of the time.

In a statement Mr Curran, who was not in court, said he did not dispute "the majority" of allegations and apologised to Ms Goldrick Dean.

After the hearing, Ms Goldrick Dean said she was "so glad it's all over".