Man becomes first person jailed for ‘blog stalking”

Hospital worker Stephen Andreassen has become the first person in the Britain to be jailed for using his blog to stalk a woman after she ended a four-week relationship with him, reports The Telegraph.

Rebecca Pattinson entered a relationship with Andreassen in 2006, three years after they met, when she went to see him perform on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley’s “One or Other” exhibition. The relationship ended just four weeks later when Andreassen began asking Pattinson to move in with him.

As a result, Andreassen started to harass his ex-girlfriend with calls, emails and text messages, taking to Facebook to beg to be taken back.

When Miss Pattinson started to lock down her social networking accounts and threaten to call the Police, Andreassen started to submit blog posts “warning all men” about her – 35 in total – adding links to other websites that detailed their relationship.

His actions landed him with a lifetime restraining order from mentioning Miss Pattinson in further posts, avoiding jail, after he admitted harassment claims.

Two months later, he was arrested for posting a new entry on his blog, calling his ex-girlfriend a “liar” and a “sociopath”. At Manchester magistrates’ court, Andreassen was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail for breaking a restraining order. He has also been sacked by Manchester Royal Infirmary.Image Credit