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Prosecutors target first 'Facebook harassment' conviction

Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke...

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A Birmingham man is set to be the first in the UK to stand trial for harassment using Facebook.

Michael Hurst, 33, of Edgbaston, has pleaded not guilty to harassing ex-girlfriend Sophie Sladden. Appearing before magistrates, he was granted conditional bail to stand trial later in March, The Birmingham Mail reports.

He is accused of a breach of the Harassment Act 1997 when he used Facebook to contact Sladden on 21 January.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "We have prosecuted harassment cases before where people have sent letters, made phone calls, and even text messages in recent years, but to my knowledge this is the first case where a website like Facebook has been involved."

Hurst and Sladden's Facebook accounts have been deleted from the site. ®

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Latest Comments

@Morely Dotes

Yet another case of the so-called "experts" failing to grasp even the simplest elements of justice

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@anon coward "nurr"

That's exactly my point - this case does *not* set a precedent because there have been previous breaches of restraining orders etc committed by email, website, dating site etc. The *only* distinguishing feature of this case is that Facebook was used. So I repeat my question: will we see the same story with Google replaced for Facebook, then Yahoo, then MSN ad nauseam?

Smiley face because I'm pleased to see that you agree with "mouth breathers"

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@Hywel

"I can also easily image Top Gear (in the present or near future) reporting the first time a hybrid is used as a getaway vehicle."

Oooh. It's almost worth robbing a bank in one, just to get that accolade.

(Black Helicopter, because surely *that's* the best getaway vehicle..)

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