Brenda Leyland found dead in a hotel room.

[Carana]

I find the majority of her tweets to be grossly offensive, whatever the subject.

The broader debate seems to be where the limits to free speech should lie...

[faithlilly]

Just a thought.

If, and we do have BHH's word for it, it was the 'family' who handed in the dossier of abuse to the Met then the 'family' must also have been aware of the intimidation Brenda Leyland was subjected to for some months before her name was revealed on Sky. They, or their representatives must have been monitoring sceptics tweets in order to collate them and can't have failed to see the threats to post Brenda's address ect ( tweets which I have already posted earlier ).

The above being the case why didn't the 'family' try and stop their supporters using such tactics ?:

It's interesting that the McCanns are now trying to distance themselves from those very same supporters ( useful idiots ) though it was always obvious that when push came to shove they would throw anyone under the bus rather than sustain any 'damage' themselves.

That now, thanks to BHH, there is a direct link between the McCanns and the individuals who abused Brenda Leyland can't be denied. The only question now is what happens next ?

[ferryman]

[BHH] must also have been aware of the intimidation Brenda Leyland was subjected to for some months before her name was revealed on Sky.

I'm not.

What intimidation?

[Mr Gray]

Just a thought.

If, and we do have BHH's word for it, it was the 'family' who handed in the dossier of abuse to the Met then the 'family' must also have been aware of the intimidation Brenda Leyland was subjected to for some months before her name was revealed on Sky. They, or their representatives must have been monitoring sceptics tweets in order to collate them and can't have failed to see the threats to post Brenda's address ect ( tweets which I have already posted earlier ).

The above being the case why didn't the 'family' try and stop their supporters using such tactics ?:

It's interesting that the McCanns are now trying to distance themselves from those very same supporters ( useful idiots ) though it was always obvious that when push came to shove they would throw anyone under the bus rather than sustain any 'damage' themselves.

That now, thanks to BHH, there is a direct link between the McCanns and the individuals who abused Brenda Leyland can't be denied. The only question now is what happens next ?

nothing on the line you are suggesting....what you are saying is simply twisted speculation

[faithlilly]

nothing on the line you are suggesting....what you are saying is simply twisted speculation

The family handed the dossier over to the Met. The family or their representatives collated the dossier so must have been aware of the intimidation of Brenda Leyland.

It really isn't rocket science.

[stephen25000]

nothing on the line you are suggesting....what you are saying is simply twisted speculation

Are you saying that the McCann's have no knowledge of some of their 'supporters' who are clearly trolls and abuse and threaten other people ?

Pull the other one.

[Mr Gray]

The family handed the dossier in. The family or their representatives collated the dossier so must have been aware of the intimidation of Brenda Leyland.

It really isn't rocket science.

You are making a lot of assumptions...from what I have read Brenda Leyland was making  a lot of abusive posts towards McCann supporters...don't try to make out she was some innocent..BHH also said they were investigating  a murder so that rules out the stupid accident theory...putting the mccanns further in the clear

[slartibartfast]

You are making a lot of assumptions...from what I have read Brenda Leyland was making  a lot of abusive posts towards McCann supporters...don't try to make out she was some innocent..BHH also said they were investigating  a murder so that rules out the stupid accident theory...putting the mccanns further in the clear

So where was she murdered?

[faithlilly]

You are making a lot of assumptions...from what I have read Brenda Leyland was making  a lot of abusive posts towards McCann supporters...don't try to make out she was some innocent..BHH also said they were investigating  a murder so that rules out the stupid accident theory...putting the mccanns further in the clear

No assumptions, just logical extrapolations.

If you can show me one post from Brenda where she threatened to expose any supporter's real names, addresses or workplaces then you may have a point.

As to BHH comments I notice how warmly you discuss the McCann's innocence and how coldly their daughter's murder.

[ferryman]

No assumptions, just logical extrapolations.

If you can show me one post from Brenda where she threatened to expose any supporter's real names, addresses or workplaces then you may have a point.

As to BHH comments I notice how warmly you discuss the McCann's innocence and how coldly their daughter's murder.

Brenda's error was that she propagated a lie that the McCanns were somehow implicated in the disappearance of their daughter.

Called to book about those lies, she couldn't take the heat and exited in the most tragic way.

Desperately sad.

But there's really nothing to be done.

[stephen25000]

Brenda's error was that she propagated a lie that the McCanns were somehow implicated in the disappearance of their daughter.

Called to book about those lies, she couldn't take the heat and exited in the most tragic way.

Desperately sad.

But there's really nothing to be done.

You need to be reminded of 2 crucial points.

1.  The nature of the crime has yet to be determined.

2. The cause of Brenda's death has also to be determined, unless you know more than the coroner.

[faithlilly]

It seems that Brenda was already in touch with the police about the threats she had received. I'm sure the coroner will be very interested in those.

That's the thing about threats, you can't simply expect to get way with them.

[Brietta]

Exposing troll was the right thing to do

I DO NOT buy into this idea that Twitter troll Brenda Leyland should have been ignored instead of exposed.

By: Camilla Tominey
Published: Sun, October 12, 2014
   
There have been calls for Martin Brunt, the Sky News reporter who outed her, to be sacked after she was found dead in a hotel room two days later.

Talk about shooting the messenger.

Yes, Leyland was someone's mother, but so is Kate McCann, the woman she so mercilessly taunted online. Everyone on the receiving end of this kind of viral vomit is someone's daughter or someone's son. The solution is not for victims to simply grow a thicker skin.

Should Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who was threatened with rape for supporting a crusade to have women featured on the new £10 note, just have shrugged her shoulders and got on with it? Of course not.

Trolls like Leyland publish these online diatribes precisely because they have been able to get away with it for so long. Even Creasy said the police did not take the harassment seriously at first because it was happening online rather than in person. She was one of the lucky ones. Thanks in part to her high-profile position as a leading politician, her perpetrator, Peter Nunn, was jailed for 18 weeks last month.

However if the law cannot always bring these online offenders to justice then the task inevitably falls to journalists like Brunt. Some have criticised his decision to target Leyland because she did not actually threaten to kill the McCanns, unlike other trolls. But she did send thousands of hate tweets. Some days she would send more than 50 messages attacking the McCanns.

Had she hurled this abuse at the couple in the street, she would have been hauled off in handcuffs. Instead she continued to publish with impunity, safe from scrutiny at home in Burton Overy, just 15 miles from where the McCanns live in Leicestershire. Yes, these were the acts of an obsessed loner but "being an oddball" is not a defence to this sort of criminal behaviour.

Which brings us to Leyland's state of mind. As the inquest has not yet been carried out into her "non-suspicious" death, it would be wrong to pre-empt the coroner's verdict. But why has there been so much focus on Leyland's mental health and not the McCanns'? I cannot imagine they have been faring well psychologically since three-year-old Madeleine went missing in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.

There is an old adage that you should not dish it out if you cannot take it back.

We are all responsible for what we say, and that includes on social networking sites. What goes online, stays online. These words do not just disappear into the ether once you press "post", they are preserved for eternity.

A "Sack Martin Brunt" Facebook page has been set up in Leyland's memory which has already attracted more than 1,000 likes. While I feel sympathy for anyone who has lost a loved one, what are her supporters trying to achieve? Brunt was not trolling Leyland. All he did was reveal her identity. I hope he exposes as many others as possible.

Speaking after she was confronted, Leyland admitted: "I regret what I've done". She might have lived a lie but at least she died with the dignity of finally being honest with herself. Her death will not be in vain if it finally makes trolls think twice before tweeting, serving as a reminder that they are only ever a mouse click away from being unmasked.

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/camilla-tominey/521746/Camilla-Tominey-McCanns-trolls-wake-up-selfies-the-real-Prince-Phillip   


 I hope he exposes as many others as possible.

I could not agree more ... over seven years targeting a family with a bombardment of hatred is insanity ... those responsible obviously are not going to give up on it voluntarily ... having far too much fun ... but it has to stop.

[faithlilly]

Exposing troll was the right thing to do

I DO NOT buy into this idea that Twitter troll Brenda Leyland should have been ignored instead of exposed.

By: Camilla Tominey
Published: Sun, October 12, 2014
   
There have been calls for Martin Brunt, the Sky News reporter who outed her, to be sacked after she was found dead in a hotel room two days later.

Talk about shooting the messenger.

Yes, Leyland was someone's mother, but so is Kate McCann, the woman she so mercilessly taunted online. Everyone on the receiving end of this kind of viral vomit is someone's daughter or someone's son. The solution is not for victims to simply grow a thicker skin.

Should Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who was threatened with rape for supporting a crusade to have women featured on the new £10 note, just have shrugged her shoulders and got on with it? Of course not.

Trolls like Leyland publish these online diatribes precisely because they have been able to get away with it for so long. Even Creasy said the police did not take the harassment seriously at first because it was happening online rather than in person. She was one of the lucky ones. Thanks in part to her high-profile position as a leading politician, her perpetrator, Peter Nunn, was jailed for 18 weeks last month.

However if the law cannot always bring these online offenders to justice then the task inevitably falls to journalists like Brunt. Some have criticised his decision to target Leyland because she did not actually threaten to kill the McCanns, unlike other trolls. But she did send thousands of hate tweets. Some days she would send more than 50 messages attacking the McCanns.

Had she hurled this abuse at the couple in the street, she would have been hauled off in handcuffs. Instead she continued to publish with impunity, safe from scrutiny at home in Burton Overy, just 15 miles from where the McCanns live in Leicestershire. Yes, these were the acts of an obsessed loner but "being an oddball" is not a defence to this sort of criminal behaviour.

Which brings us to Leyland's state of mind. As the inquest has not yet been carried out into her "non-suspicious" death, it would be wrong to pre-empt the coroner's verdict. But why has there been so much focus on Leyland's mental health and not the McCanns'? I cannot imagine they have been faring well psychologically since three-year-old Madeleine went missing in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.

There is an old adage that you should not dish it out if you cannot take it back.

We are all responsible for what we say, and that includes on social networking sites. What goes online, stays online. These words do not just disappear into the ether once you press "post", they are preserved for eternity.

A "Sack Martin Brunt" Facebook page has been set up in Leyland's memory which has already attracted more than 1,000 likes. While I feel sympathy for anyone who has lost a loved one, what are her supporters trying to achieve? Brunt was not trolling Leyland. All he did was reveal her identity. I hope he exposes as many others as possible.

Speaking after she was confronted, Leyland admitted: "I regret what I've done". She might have lived a lie but at least she died with the dignity of finally being honest with herself. Her death will not be in vain if it finally makes trolls think twice before tweeting, serving as a reminder that they are only ever a mouse click away from being unmasked.

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/camilla-tominey/521746/Camilla-Tominey-McCanns-trolls-wake-up-selfies-the-real-Prince-Phillip   


 I hope he exposes as many others as possible.

I could not agree more ... over seven years targeting a family with a bombardment of hatred is insanity ... those responsible obviously are not going to give up on it voluntarily ... having far too much fun ... but it has to stop.

Don't you ever read what your compadres post ? 

[colombosstogey]

Just a thought.

If, and we do have BHH's word for it, it was the 'family' who handed in the dossier of abuse to the Met then the 'family' must also have been aware of the intimidation Brenda Leyland was subjected to for some months before her name was revealed on Sky. They, or their representatives must have been monitoring sceptics tweets in order to collate them and can't have failed to see the threats to post Brenda's address ect ( tweets which I have already posted earlier ).

The above being the case why didn't the 'family' try and stop their supporters using such tactics ?:

It's interesting that the McCanns are now trying to distance themselves from those very same supporters ( useful idiots ) though it was always obvious that when push came to shove they would throw anyone under the bus rather than sustain any 'damage' themselves.

That now, thanks to BHH, there is a direct link between the McCanns and the individuals who abused Brenda Leyland can't be denied. The only question now is what happens next ?

Faithlilly, one of the most sensible posts i have read anywhere about the McCanns and their supporters.

You make a very valid point.

Isnt it a crime NOT TO REPORT a crime you are aware of? Isnt this classed as Misprision of Felony?

The crime of misprision still exists in England, but it has never been fully embraced in the United States.

I think what you wrote should be sent to the authorities and investigated IMHO. This is very serious if it is deemed to be the truth.