Felicity Lowde Sentenced

Rachel is, I expect, pretty snowed under at the moment, so I’ll break the news…

Cyber-stalker Felicity Lowde Awarded Six-Month Jail Sentence For Terrorizing Rachel North

June 28, 2007 10:36 a.m. EST

Susheela Hegde – AHN News Writer

London, England (AHN) – A cyber-stalker has been handed down six-month sentence for harassing a 7/7 bombing survivor through a web-log and e-mails.

Felicity Jane Lowde, a researcher in Oxford University posted hundreds of messages targeting Rachel North who survived the tragic Russell Square Piccadilly Line bombing which left 26 people dead in 2005.

Judge Malcolm Read said by carrying out a “vicious, vitriolic and vindictive” campaign by posting hundreds of messages accusing Ms North with “making a living on the backs of the dead”, Ms Lowde repeatedly struck at the victim’s terrible traumatic experience.

North, 39, who has been fighting for an independent inquiry into the 7/7 incident, said she is happy over the verdict.

However, Lowde, who has been also given a restraining order and a five-year Asbo, said she intends to go for an appeal.

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Couple of points of note – the reference to Lowde being ‘a researcher at Oxford University’ is unverified and at least in part, inaccurate.

She certainly claimed to be a researcher on her blog, on numerous occasions, but was known to be unemployed for some considerable time prior to her arrest. As for her university background, she attended Oxford Brookes University, which was formerly Oxford Polytechnic and NOT Oxford University.

While a student at Oxford Brookes, she was tried (and cleared) on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to alleged attempt to hire a private investigator to carry out a ‘sting’ on a former boyfriend in an effort to intimidate him into dropping harassment charges against her.

She was, however, convicted of harassing her ex-boyfriend and served three months in prison.

As regards her expressed intention to appeal, the law in Engalnd and Wales does not provide for an automatic right of appeal.

Lowde is entitled to apply for leave to appeal and, if she does, will attend a hearing at which she will be required to show that there a valid grounds for an appeal. Only if the court is satisfied that her stated grounds stack up will an appeal hearing be granted.

Regarding the contents of the restraining order and ASBO: –

a) the restraining order will apply specifically to Rachel, her husband and, possibly, other members of her immediate family – it is entirely up to Rachel whether or not she provides any more information on that subject.

b) as for the ASBO, if I can ascertain whether any of its terms that may be of specific relevance to bloggers and other online users, i.e. whether Lowde is subject any restrictions on her use of the internet,  then I will endeavour to publish that information so that bloggers are aware of what actions may be open to them should she resurface and breach those restrictions.

19 thoughts on “Felicity Lowde Sentenced

  1. I am glad Felicity Lowde was brought to justice. So much for her blustering that Rachel was the cyberstalker–a very common tactic of abusers, to accuse those they abuse of the very same crime.
    I hope that Felicity’s sentencing will include court-ordered psychotherapy.

  2. I hope all will join in hoping this is an end to a very sorry affair. Hopefully Ms Lowde will stop her seemingly addictive need to harass others.

  3. hmmm, why is the ASBO necessary on top of the restraining order? I hate to get all “there is a wider principle involved”, particularly in such a deserving case, but the use of ASBOs as a means of regulating the mentally ill is really bad public policy and I am not sure it’s a good idea for bloggers to suddenly become in favour of it when one of our mates is involved.

  4. DD:

    It depends on what’s in the terms of the ASBO and the basis on which it was laid down.

    If it stems from an acknowledgement of the trail of other net users she’s harassed then it could well incorporate restrictions on her use of the net, which could range form a complete ban to simply a ‘don’t use it for harassment’ order.

    She should get psychiatric help, but if I was anywhere close in identifying a narcissistic personality disorder as the underlying cause of her behaviour then its in the nature of the condition that those with it are very unlikely to seek help voluntarily and that the nature of on-line communications may be a contributory factor and facilitate the disorder.

    The sanctions on an ASBO are not appropriate to the condition, but appropriately worded restrictions on net usage could be as this removes an outlet for her disordered behaviour that may force the issue of her accepting her need for help.

    Its a fine judgement call, but in the circumstances it would be better for her that she stay offline until she can get her problems under proper control, not least because, after all the publicity around this case, she’s likely to be a very easy mark for a bit of deliberate troll-baiting which could set her off again and land her back in the pokey.

    Six months inside is about right for the harassment she’s visited on Rachel, but next time out it could be anything up to five years and that would be harsh, which makes it preferably that things are nipped quickly in the bud if she does start up with her antics as the longer that’s left unchecked the worse it’ll be for her if someone does sick the Old Bill on her.

    The big legal deficiency in a case like this is that the court has the option of an ASBO but not, seemingly, a treatment order, which would be the more appropriate response.

    I’ve seen this kind of thing before, and if gets to stage where she become nothing more than troll-bait then it can all too quickly spiral destructively out of control – in some respects she fortunate that this has happened in the UK and not the US, where there’s no shortage of people who think nothing of playing rough with individuals even when its obvious that have mental health problems.

  5. Claims that fjl was a researcher at Oxford may well be inaccurate – as are claims Ms North ‘gave up her job to campaign for an independent inquiry into the bombings’

    BBC

  6. The ASBO is to protect her other victims, which includes my father, th eprosecuting police, the CPS prosecuting team, hewr previous defence lawyers, and will remain in place until overturned by any appeal , or when 5 years is expired, whichever is the sooner. The restraining order is to protect me. She can still use the net. She just can’t use the net to harass certain named people. There was no psych. reprt so still no idea why she did it. The Judge said he did not think a report was necessary to sentence her: hopefully she will get assessed and treated, if possible, inside.

    I’ve thanked bloggers, said no to all interview requests, am braced to go through it all again in an appeal, though I doubt she’ll be able to cross examine me in person, due to the nature of the offence and witness protection rules.I’m ploughing though zillions of emails, and messages. I’d like to repeat my thanks here to everyone who helped, especially Unity who’se NPD post was really useful to me in terms of understanding why she couldn’t/wouldn’t stop. I’ve explained why the internet campaign was so helpful, on my blog. And I’m looking forward to blogging about other stuff now, and getting on with normal life. I think I guessed most of the Cabinet wromg, for starters…

  7. I’d be very surprised if what FJL says about Oxford is true either- I’m a PhD student at Cambridge and as far as I am aware you can’t be a researcher at either Cambridge or Oxford- you are either a PhD student, a research fellow, a postdoctoral fellow or a fellow but the title researcher doesn’t exist- or if it does I’ve never met one!

    I don’t know what she is endeavouring to research- from what you say its connections in the Jack the Ripper case to leading figures in contemporary society- I’d be really shocked if anyone serious was funding that- it sounds more conspiracy theorist than historian to be honest.

    Its good news that the case is resolved despite threats to appeal- I would hope that in prison Lowde might get some treatment and therefore for Rachel and her other victims things might return to normal- and for Lowde herself she might acheive the opportunity of getting some peace and normality into her life.

  8. I hate to rain on your parade but Ms. Lowde will probably only serve about three months of a six month sentence. It would have been better for Ms. Lowde and her victims had she been given a treatment order. This is far from a ‘get out of gaol’ free card. She would have been detained for an indefinite period and her release would be dependent upon a psychiatric assessment. I was attacked (physically, irl, not over the ‘net) two years ago and my attacker got a suspended sentence but he was also sectioned and was in detained in hospital for longer than he would have been detained in prison.

    She is highly unlikely to receive the help she requires in prison.

  9. Pingback: Jottings
  10. Rachel North is a true heroine. So what if she left the dying to die on 7/7?
    She has since done an important mission – getting rid of conspiracy theorists. She has gone in the footsteps of brave US Congressman and MSNBC anchor Joe Scarorough – he called for these people to be sent to a secret camp in Eastern Europe.
    Rachel North is protecting the world from people who talk about these things, some of whom think the Reichstage Fire was done as an inside job by the Nazis! And then talk about the Lavon Affair and Operation Northwooods.
    Rachel North can save us – she got Felicity Lowde in prison and she is not finished. Conspiracy theories will be punished. Society needs Rachel North and her freedom fighters. as Polly Toynbee wrote in the Guardian, conspiracy theorists are a threat to society. Next time William Rodriguez comes to London, Rachel will confront him and arrest him! That stupid janitor was dumb enough to go into a burning building and save firemen, police and civilians. On the other hand, Rachel North was intelligent enough to flee the scene, leave the dying, and then go write a book about it and talk about it on her blog non-stop. We know she is not an MI5 agent because she told us she is not.
    Therefore she is our heroine, saving us from conspiracy theorists and bloggers who do not like her opinion.

  11. More on the same. Rachel North has outed Nick Kollerstrom as a Holocaust denier. So we know this is true because she says so. He does question some of the urban legends, and some people might only think he is sceptical about a controversial theme, maybe he is wrong – but that rational pragmatic approach has got to go.
    Rachel North has taken initiative to call him a Holocaust denier! Therefore we need to support her and get this man taken to a secret camp in Eastern Europe, as US Congressman Joe Scarborough urged!
    Maybe there are others who Joe and Rachel need to track down. Watch out, because they are coming after you, and they do not need evidence!
    Brave New World!

  12. By the way, you can check out other facts on http://www.markofthemask.blogspot.com
    There I support Johnathan Ross and urge more pay raise. We also support US extradition of innocent people!
    And of course, we support Rachel North and US Congressman Joe Scarborough.

    And we ask for the immediate arrest of William Rodriguez and Mike Zebuhr, and any NYC firemen who told us that they heard explosions on 9/11. And anyone who told the press that there were explosions UNDER the carriages on 7/7. These people are a threat to society, and Rachel North will save us from them.

  13. Mark Ski doesn’t deserve a reply – and neither do pretty much any of the people who pretend to defend someone as toxic as FJL, but thanks, Unity, for your solid response to this whole situation. With the appeal lost, people are hoping that things are going to really start happening.

  14. With the appeal lost, people are hoping that things are going to really start happening.
    May 27th, 2008 at 5:05 am

    A secure hospital hopefully. It’s an absolute disgrace that she hasn’t been sent to one of those before now. What will it take?

  15. Mark Ski – or Tony Gosling – please try and calm down. You come over as paranoid. And if you have been contributing to the hateblog set up by Lowde, you’ve been helping someone breach a court order, as well as behaving in a way that is not congruent with you being a senior committee member of the Bristol National Union of Journalists.

  16. 26235. anon said:
    Mark Ski – or Tony Gosling – please try and calm down. You come over as paranoid. And if you have been contributing to the hateblog set up by Lowde, you

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