Harassment And Social Media - Can You Guess?

[DSM10000]

I'd hope they served an anti-harrassment order.

I can't remember what it was called, but one of these was served on my Wife's ex partner some years ago after he assaulted her. She had a stream of text messages etc.

I seem to recall it was a formal notice forbidding him to communicate with her - and breaching it would be quite serious. Certainly worked. Although it meant I became the go between - not so fun.

injunction ?

The Police cannot issue injunctions or "anti harassment orders" (actually more likely to be an anti molestation order), these are only granted by a Judge.

You may pursue this privately via a solicitor who will prepare a case for the Court, you then need to serve notice on the person named, give them a chance to defend themselves and then go before a Judge (you will often need Council to represent you at this stage) to obtain the order, if successful you will then need to have that served to make it active.

The Judge may impose a number of conditions on the defendant such as immediate power of arrest if the order is breached if so minded.

Likely cost, circa £4,000 upwards.

 

[grober]

I imagine media personalities get this sort of hate mail up to and including death threats all the time. After taking reasonable precautions ultimately they have to make a conscious decision whether to adopt the role of "victim" or not let it dominate their life.

 

[markjay]

You'd like to think so - he was told by the officer at the station that the first recommended action these days, upon receipt of social media harassment is to block, though the initial home visit officer was prepared to commence an harassment complaint, which he declined.

I suspect, as eluded to somewhere above, Dave could go to a different police station and get a different response.

Ask Dave to send an SMS Text message (not WhatsApp) asking the sender to stop sending him messages, and explaining that he is blocked on WhatsApp and that he was reported to the Police

He might fall for the bait and reply by SMS Text messages..... Dave presumably is not very technical and does not know how to block Text messages so will need police advice again.... and may be offered to file a complaint....

 

[jotter22]

Dave has a Samsung S6 - if you've got one, you'll be able to find the blocked messages folder in "Messages_Settings".

The Police lady said she wasn't aware that some phones did this - believing that typically a blocked number meant the phone wouldn't receive the messages, so the account holder couldn't be harassed.

She seemed a bit wrong footed by the Samsung approach, but didn't waiver.

Tell Dave to get his Samsung s6 slightly damp then he can buy a new phone with better blocking capabilities!
Samsung Galaxy s6 rant over.......

Tony

 

[developer]

A quick update...

Dave received a call from the interviewing officer at the station, enquiring "how things were"?

She explained that she'd been thinking about how things had been left - was a bit concerned, and felt a call was in order.

Dave thanked her and used the opportunity to reiterate that he thought the route of her not recognisng the blocked messages was plain daft.

He went on to say that he'd be back in again if there were any more (in the folder he shouldn't be looking at ) and she said...

"yes, come back in and we'll have a fresh look at things"

He's interpreted that as a bit of a re-think - though thankfully things seemed to have quietened down on the message front.

My guess is that if you think all your messages aren't getting through, you'd stop sending them - which supports the Police's approach.

 

[st13phil]

I'm pretty sure the police get inundated with complaints like these.

They do.

My mate's daughter was subjected to various threats by an ex-partner via social media. In that instance, chummy was prosecuted and given a 12-month suspended sentence that seemed to do the trick

During the investigation the officer concerned told my mate that social media threats were the bane of their life as they spent endless hours investigating them - he estimated between 45% and 55% of his working time. He also said that 99.9% never even warranted a call to the alleged perpetrator, but they still had to investigate in case it turned out to be one of the 0.1% that did. Against that background, I'm not surprised that the Police response is somewhat jaded.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

Thisvvvv would it not be better if 'Dave' focused on the root cause of the problem and try to address the issues with the offender via peaceful resolution...obviously if possible.

Unfortunately Police, injunctions and stuff can lead to escalation above and beyond text msg....nightly visits from Mr Paintstripper, broken windows for car...not good.

What caused the problem or what was the nature of the problem that set your troll off?

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Thisvvvv would it not be better if 'Dave' focused on the root cause of the problem and try to address the issues with the offender via peaceful resolution...obviously if possible.

Unfortunately Police, injunctions and stuff can lead to escalation above and beyond text msg....nightly visits from Mr Paintstripper, broken windows for car...not good.

Yup:

I see your text bother and raise you a punch in the face.
I see your punch in the face and raise you a kneecapping.
I see your kneecapping...

 

[developer]

Yes, Dave agrees in local resolution, though in this case, it's not that straightforward.

The thread was to highlight the response of the Police regarding the messages.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

Agreed...not always straight forward at all...however maybe 'dave' should think at maybe getting someone mutual to liaise between both parties to progress a solution and peaceful conclusion...imho getting the police involved will drive 'dave' crazy and cause even more stress...unfortunately very low crime priority, police will not be that interested until a violent act occurs and the matter is escalated

Yes, Dave agrees in local resolution, though in this case, it's not that straightforward.

The thread was to highlight the response of the Police regarding the messages.

 

[reason42]

Love and hate are the same side of the coin. The opposite is indifference. To completely ignore someone/thing/act/whatever frustrates the source of the hate/love giver more than any reaction returned.

In other words, completely ignore that person and it will frustrate them even more. And if confronted with said sender of hate/love etc, always maintain that indifference. They'll soon get the message. Seems like they already are.