In the United Kingdom, a girl who used fake Instagram accounts to send herself threats in order to blame her ex-boyfriend for stalking was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Courtney Ireland Ainsworth fabricated up to 30 fake Instagram profiles. She then informed police that her ex-partner Louis Jolly was behind the ‘vile’ communications, Mirror UK reported.
Courtney filed 10 police reports alleging that Louis was harassing and stalking her. Her ex-boyfriend was arrested six times, facing charges of violence and stalking, receiving a stalking protection order. He got released on a home curfew with an electronic tag and even lost his employment.
“You created an entirely fictional but superficially credible web of poisonous deceit for over five months,” Recorder Ian Harris told Courtney. The 22-year-old Louis said that they were together for two years before breaking up on ‘good terms’ in Oct 2019. Just before Courtney began dating a man named Declan Rice.
The 20-year-old Courtney case was heard at Liverpool Crown Court. Prosecutor Paul Blasbery said she called the police multiple times between July 15 and Dec 13, 2020. She provided photos of chats and the identities of fake Insta profiles she assigned to her victim.
“You provided images of damage to property and you yourself, as to where you said he knifed you with a Stanley knife, and there was a scar on your chest,” said Recorder Harris. On Nov 15, Courtney’s mother called the police, claiming that Louis had threatened to stab her. Detectives requested data from Instagram’s parent company, Facebook.
Perverting the course of justice
On Dec 4, Louis was issued an interim stalking protection order and bailed for six weeks with an electronically tagged home curfew of 7 pm to 7 am every day.
Courtney accused him of violating the order, and her mother reported him to the police on Dec 13. When authorities obtained the data from Facebook, they discovered at least 17 Instagram accounts made with two of her email addresses and IP addresses associated with her house and phone.
She was detained and questioned on Dec 12, 2020, and confessed, before the stalking and assault charges against Louis were dropped. “She stated her ex-boyfriend Louis was hassling her, but in order to make the police believe it, she sent false messages to the police so that they would take it seriously,” Blasbery stated.
Courtney confessed perverting the course of justice despite having no prior convictions. Defending attorney Jim Smith said his client was 19 at the time, immature, and diagnosed with ‘complicated’ post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Because of her mental health issues, Recorder Harris lowered her sentence and awarded her full credit for her guilty plea.
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