Only those who know me know who I am and what I do, often away from the public eye.

On top of my commitments this week I want to talk about this. I have seen a barrage of messages on Twitter, sent to me and about me; messages which are good, bad and certainly ugly, sent mainly from those who don’t know me and have never met me.

Why? Online abuse is unacceptable. I am calling it out and people don’t like it.

To put things in context, I myself have received a fair amount of online abuse over the last few years but last summer it reached a new level because the online abuse included a death threat from an individual who I had never met, but who was going through a very unstable time. This was totally unacceptable, so I reported it to Twitter. Twitter said they had broken Twitter rules and consequently Twitter suspended the account they were using.

I had a short period of relative peace until the Autumn. The snide remarks started up again primarily from an individual, then a small group emerged, tweeting in agreement with them. I decided to inquire who these people were, but not on open social media. I contacted people I knew and trusted and asked for their advice, questioning the reasons behind this unacceptable attack on me, but even in asking questions it seemed I opened a can of worms. I learned there were those hiding behind Twitter accounts who had other professional accounts. It seems I hit a raw nerve; I’ve done that before and it will probably happen again!

Never once did I try to get any ex-offenders fired from their jobs. This is pure fabrication.

Over the last fortnight, I have seen tweets primarily from one individual with relentless bombardment on a daily basis. How is this acceptable behaviour and especially from someone who, yet again, I don’t know and have never met?

Starting rumours, planting seeds of doubt into the minds of others, and propagating things which are blatantly untrue: the tweets by that individual are being proliferated by others. They talk about what I wear, what I eat, who I associate with, what events I have attended, and even have the audacity to want to know what is in my diary. Their remarks and exchanges place me in false light.

Why the obsession?

Seriously why?

The stories they invent are worth a Bafta.

Why am I constantly seeing tweets by those who want me to confirm or deny certain issues, that I allegedly did or said or even thought? And why am I accused of being the bully and generating a climate of fear and frightening people into silence? Utter nonsense.

In an example of online abuse unrelated to previous examples I have given above, here is a tweet I saw recently:

“If it’s covered in sugar it’ll ruin your teeth. If covered in salt, it’ll affect your blood pressure. Spear is a withering insipid excuse for a woman. And I’ve little time for bullshit and her version of victim hood”

Really is this acceptable?

This is from an individual who works in the criminal justice system. Astonishing.

Turning to yet another separate example of online abuse, I remember being at an academic round table event a couple of years ago. The person sat beside me, who I knew of but had never met before, started to cry so I reached into my bag and gave them a tissue. I had a few online conversations with them before and afterward, but didn’t know their full story and didn’t get involved in their life. Yet, allegations were made online against me, by a third party, of lifting them up, carrying them then dropping them. All I did was give them a tissue for goodness sake and for my trouble they themselves later sent messages to me on Twitter including disgusting photos with increasingly nasty comments.

And the stories started to circulate.

Is the online abuse I receive a form of deflection?

Am I regarded as a legitimate target for people to offload their frustrations?

Are the people sending online abuse themselves hurt and damaged?

When the majority state that they are there for others, to support them, how ironic they tweet things so unsupportive such as:

“Wow – if this is true it is despicable, but not surprising…”

“Allegedly you caused…”

“I personally fear for all those connected to you…”

What does this smear campaign hope to achieve? Remember when you point the finger at someone there are three pointing back at you.

If this is how you treat me when all I work for is positive change within the prison sector, then how can others trust you? In smearing me you are making yourselves less credible, ruining your own reputation and doing yourself and the cause you fight for a disservice.

I’m not perfect, I make mistakes. Who doesn’t?

But I will not stand by and put up with this online abuse orchestrated against me. Piling on is the online equivalent to dishing out a pad beating in a prison. Anyone who has served time and who now uses social media will understand the devastating effect I am talking about.

Unlike those who level allegations against me, I have chosen not to name anyone, they know who they are and should reflect upon what they do and say online.

I’m upset, feel bruised, frustrated, bewildered and many other emotions. But I will not shut up and will not go away.

What I saw and heard visiting many prisons (every category including women’s prisons) gives me motivation to work with others to restore decency for those in prison and for their families.

I will do all I can to help bring positive change, to speak the truth and face the consequences. I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I am me.

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Everything on this blog has been out on social media; I just collated it. 

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Updated 20 March:
13th paragraph has been modified following a request on Twitter that I associated the person who issued the online abuse in 12th paragraph with the person who issued the death threat against me cited in 4th paragraph. Therefore, the 13th paragraph now starts with new words to make it abundantly clear the two individual examples on online abuse originated from separate individuals and in order to resolve any misinterpretation this may have caused.

16th paragraph has been modified following a request issued on Twitter that in some way I identified the person who issued the online abuse cited verbatim in the 12th paragraph. Therefore, certain wording about the individual’s background has been removed as this was regarded to be pejorative and reference to the nature of their work has also been removed in order to resolve any misinterpretation this may have caused.

17th paragraph has been modified following a request issued on Twitter that in some way I identified the person who issued the online abuse covered in this paragraph. Therefore, certain wording about the individual’s gender has been removed as this was regarded to be the identifier and in order to resolve any misinterpretation this may have caused.

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