Investigation into McCann internet trolls launched by police

mariaccnr ‏@mariaccnr 11m11 minutes ago
@SkyNews

You will be sued more Martin Brunt!

About the stalking to a Woman, 63 years old , Mum of two.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-internet-trolls-devoid-4379575#ixzz3FClNRzMi

Madeleine McCann internet trolls are devoid of humanity – much like the people who abducted her

Oct 04, 2014 19:57
OPINION BY CAROLEMALONE
Sunday Mirror columnist Carole Malone says that whatever your opinions about the McCanns, sending them vile abuse and death threats is cowardly and depraved

Over the years I’ve had a lot to say about Kate and Gerry McCann. Like many people, I was angry at what I believed to be their ­irresponsibility in leaving young children alone while they went out drinking.

I could never forgive the fact that while holidaying in Portugal they left two-year-old twins and three-year-old Madeleine alone in an unlocked apartment not just for one night, but for many nights – even after Madeleine had cried and asked them not to leave her because she was scared.

And despite the fact there was a 10-quid ­babysitting service at their resort which they could have used, but chose not to.

These were mistakes that changed the McCanns’ lives for ever because they cost them their beloved Madeleine.

They were also mistakes which have since cost them their peace of mind and possibly now, even their safety.

Their decision to leave those children alone has brought with it a retribution that will haunt them every day of their lives.

But as well as having to deal with that, they’re now having to deal with a bunch of foul-mouthed trolls whose threats have become so vile, so dangerous, that Scotland Yard has an 80-page dossier on them.

And the threats aren’t just to Kate and Gerry McCann. Unforgivably, some of them are directed at their nine-year-old twins.

How sick, how twisted, how depraved do you have to be to keep bombarding an already broken family with hateful death threats – threats designed to throw more poison into their already poisoned lives.

The people making these threats are cruel and devoid of humanity – much like the people who abducted Madeleine. But they’re also cowards, too scared to say to the McCanns’ faces what they say anonymously on Twitter.

One of these trolls, Brenda Leyland, is a church-going 60-something divorcee who lives in a pretty village in the Home Counties. She looks like a perfectly respectable woman. But of course she isn’t.

She’s a cowardly bully who hides behind her smart front door and spews her bile in secret because she doesn’t have the guts to do it in public.

This piece of work was sending up to 50 texts a day to the McCanns. But when Sky News cameras approached her she wasn’t quite so brave.

She looked like a frightened rabbit (typical). But as she was running away (also typical) she said she thought she was entitled to do what she’d done.

Really? She thinks she’s entitled to threaten, hound and bully the innocent? Is that because her own life is so lonely, so miserable, so poisoned that she wants others to suffer the same. Or is she just a twisted, fecked up bitch who gets her kicks from hurting people.

Well, newsflash for these sickos – you guys aren’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to Kate and Gerry McCann. The very worst thing that could ever happen to them already has. And they will for ever have to live with that. I truly hope all the people in that dossier are prosecuted and I hope Sky continue to confront and identify every one of them. We should all know what a black heart and a twisted mind looks like.

These idiots need to know they can no longer hide behind false names to peddle their bile.

Let’s see how brave and opinionated they are when their evil is made public alongside their names and their faces.

Sykes wrote:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-internet-trolls-devoid-4379575#ixzz3FClNRzMi

Madeleine McCann internet trolls are devoid of humanity – much like the people who abducted her

Oct 04, 2014 19:57
OPINION BY CAROLEMALONE
Sunday Mirror columnist Carole Malone says that whatever your opinions about the McCanns, sending them vile abuse and death threats is cowardly and depraved

Over the years I’ve had a lot to say about Kate and Gerry McCann. Like many people, I was angry at what I believed to be their ­irresponsibility in leaving young children alone while they went out drinking.

I could never forgive the fact that while holidaying in Portugal they left two-year-old twins and three-year-old Madeleine alone in an unlocked apartment not just for one night, but for many nights – even after Madeleine had cried and asked them not to leave her because she was scared.

And despite the fact there was a 10-quid ­babysitting service at their resort which they could have used, but chose not to.

These were mistakes that changed the McCanns’ lives for ever because they cost them their beloved Madeleine.

They were also mistakes which have since cost them their peace of mind and possibly now, even their safety.

Their decision to leave those children alone has brought with it a retribution that will haunt them every day of their lives.

But as well as having to deal with that, they’re now having to deal with a bunch of foul-mouthed trolls whose threats have become so vile, so dangerous, that Scotland Yard has an 80-page dossier on them.

And the threats aren’t just to Kate and Gerry McCann. Unforgivably, some of them are directed at their nine-year-old twins.

How sick, how twisted, how depraved do you have to be to keep bombarding an already broken family with hateful death threats – threats designed to throw more poison into their already poisoned lives.

The people making these threats are cruel and devoid of humanity – much like the people who abducted Madeleine. But they’re also cowards, too scared to say to the McCanns’ faces what they say anonymously on Twitter.

One of these trolls, Brenda Leyland, is a church-going 60-something divorcee who lives in a pretty village in the Home Counties. She looks like a perfectly respectable woman. But of course she isn’t.

She’s a cowardly bully who hides behind her smart front door and spews her bile in secret because she doesn’t have the guts to do it in public.

This piece of work was sending up to 50 texts a day to the McCanns. But when Sky News cameras approached her she wasn’t quite so brave.

She looked like a frightened rabbit (typical). But as she was running away (also typical) she said she thought she was entitled to do what she’d done.

Really? She thinks she’s entitled to threaten, hound and bully the innocent? Is that because her own life is so lonely, so miserable, so poisoned that she wants others to suffer the same. Or is she just a twisted, fecked up bitch who gets her kicks from hurting people.

Well, newsflash for these sickos – you guys aren’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to Kate and Gerry McCann. The very worst thing that could ever happen to them already has. And they will for ever have to live with that. I truly hope all the people in that dossier are prosecuted and I hope Sky continue to confront and identify every one of them. We should all know what a black heart and a twisted mind looks like.

These idiots need to know they can no longer hide behind false names to peddle their bile.

Let’s see how brave and opinionated they are when their evil is made public alongside their names and their faces.

Anonymous2 Oct 2014 21:19:00
Martin Blunt and the woman were 'acting' she was part of the PR. Why after 7 years chose just one person to make an example of, and then threaten action against others. The internet is full of sites and commentators and tweets with valid points questioning the Mccanns. Why chose this random woman who said absolutely nothing on camera? If she had been genuine and been tweeting about the mccanns she would have said more as this would have been her opportunity the whole thing if you look at it again is nothing more than a PR exercise to scare people off from having a critical opinion about the Mccanns.
The Mccanns are so predictable this is yet another PR exercise, don't be fooled by them.

The Portugal News
04 October 2014

Kate and Gerry McCann receive death threats
in News · 02-10-2014 15:02:00 · 0 Comments

Reports on Thursday have revealed that campaigners are urging police and MPs to crack down on internet abuse directed at the family of missing Madeleine McCann.
Kate and Gerry McCann receive death threats

The Metropolitan Police is reportedly investigating a catalogue of vile internet abuse targeting the family of Madeleine McCann including death threats. An exclusive report by Sky News says officers are in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service after being handed a dossier of more than 80 pages of Tweets, Facebook posts and messages on online forums aimed at Kate and Gerry McCann.
Sky News further revealed that the Metropolitan Police is investigating a catalogue of internet abuse targeting the family of Madeleine McCann including death threats.
A series of messages have been posted in recent years pointing to the involvement of the parents despite both Portuguese and British police saying they are not suspects.
Some of the messages posted by so-called internet trolls include suggestions that the McCanns should be tortured and killed and calls for them to “burn in hell”.
Some messages are even directed at Madeleine’s younger siblings, now aged nine, Sky News said.
In Portugal, sources close to the case said this week that detectives from Scotland Yard should arrive in Portugal in the coming week or so for another routine meeting with their Portuguese counterparts in Faro.
This meeting will then be followed by further inquiries in Portugal after a request was sent to Portugal at the end of August for further questioning of suspects in the Algarve.
It is understood the officers have been granted permission to interview up to seven key suspects identified earlier this year – three of whom are expected to be questioned for a second time.
This is the fifth such letter to be received by Portuguese authorities since last October.
Last month, British detectives admitted upon their return to the UK that “no evidence relating to Madeleine McCann had been identified.”
Sources close to the case had earlier told The Portugal News: “Unfortunately we are nowhere nearer to solving the case than we were seven years ago” even though it appears the investigation is far from over.

Jayelles » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:05 am
They are always harping on about their freedom of speech and how they are entitled to their opinions.

Well, so are other people and like it or not, the hounders who will be vilified if their IDs are revealed. They are perceived as cruel, vile and cowardly. I personally hope Brunty knocks at a few more doors and asks the occupants if they'd like to talk about their anti-McCann Twitter activity. Some of them won't be hard to find and I'll bet that there are journos hunting down more of them as I type this.

Passions are running high on this and the trolls are not going to come out of it smelling of roses. Some of them are trying to play victim by tweeting to various members of the media how THEY got abuse tweeted at them by pros.

Well listen up folks. The media are not interested in spats between arguing factions of nobodies on social networking. Nor are they interested in he said, she said inter forum rivalries. They aren't interested in blog vs blog rebuttals. They aren't interested in pros slagging off antis or vice versa. They aren't interested in Nobody A calling Nobody B a slut or an inbred or a p.a.e.dophile. They won't even be interested in people saying they don't like the McCanns or that they think they did things wrong.

What they ARE interested in are threats, orchestrated abuse and harassment, the posting of hurtful misinformation and anything to do with stalking the family of a missing child.

The journos need only to look on the hounder forums, Facebook groups and Twitter #mccann hashtag to see this and who is doing it. They have researchers who specialise in tracking people down. They are hungry for different angles on this story - which may go on for months if the police start cracking down on the perps.

Are the goons behaving decently whilst they are under scrutiny? Not a bit of it. They are giving observers a great show if how vile and vindictive they are. They are validating everything that was said in Thursday's special report.

Scotland Yard have an open investigation into the trolling of the McCanns. There is nothing to stop anyone adding to that. I for one will not hesitate to report any threats I see (or receive) to the police. No-one has the right to conduct a seven year campaign of abuse and harassment against anyone, let alone the family of a missing child.

Web trolls unleash vile attacks on Irish-based Maddie authors
Ralph Riegel Twitter

Published 05/10/2014 | 02:30

A vicious internet campaign has been unleashed against the Irish-based authors of a book about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Anthony Summers and his wife, Robbyn Swann, have been subjected to a campaign of vile and sinister abuse, mostly via Facebook and Twitter, because their investigative book, Looking for Madeleine, vindicates her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann.

The veteran investigative reporters - who have written eight award-winning biographies between them - were taken aback by the personal nature of the online attacks.

"My daughter burst into tears over some of the things she read online. She was worried that her friends might read and believe the things that had been written about me," Robbyn told the Sunday Independent.

Robbyn and Anthony were tipped off during their two- year-long research for the book on Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal seven years ago that they too could become targets if their work was perceived as verifying the McCanns' account of what happened.

"As far as the internet trolls are concerned, we were informed about a week before our book came out that we should be very careful and alert to the possibility that our book would become a target for these people," said Robbyn.

"Sure enough, within days before the book was published it was being reviewed - despite the fact people couldn't have seen the book."

One of the Twitter trolls at the centre of vile comments about the McCanns, @sweepyface, also organised an internet campaign of negative reviews of the book. The authors, who live in west Waterford, say there is no evidence to link the McCanns with Madeleine's disappearance.

ANALYSIS PAGE 20

"The truth is that there isn't any such evidence," Anthony said. "The stuff on the internet is pure malicious drivel. I use those words carefully - malicious drivel. It is spew - it not about free speech. There were loathsome things said. This is an embattled couple who have vulnerable children. The very fact that vicious people are saying they should be hurt. . . it has the potential to trigger some fool to do something. So people should be extraordinarily careful here."

The couple have written or co-written eight bestselling books on Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe, J Edgar Hoover and JFK.

They were also shortlisted for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for their 2011 book, The Eleventh Day which set out to tell "the full story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden".

Morais' reply to all this is predictably predictable.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary she insists we are worse than the anti McCanns. She cannot produce any evidence, whereas a quick scroll through the fb pages (one of which she now admins) would show to any intelligent, right thinking person who the trolls are.

And that's after a couple of days of frantic clean up!

Listen up JoMo, here's a thing - taking the pee about someone's weight and their prediliction for using ancient, flattering photos of themselves is NOT the same as accusing a couple of murdering their own daughter, hiding her body and launching an international fraud.

Get that??
THERE IS NO COMPARISON

 Postby Jayelles » Sun Oct 05, 2014 9:48 am
Kiki has now protected her tweets, but it is interesting that Isabelle calls Kiki a "mole" (which would suggest an anti pretending to be a pro, perhaps with a view to getting close to some of the pros).

Let's look at some of Kiki's comments:-

About Joana Morais

   @AdirenM @xklamation @skymartinbrunt I've read her blogs she has spread lies for years Goodbye ‐Thu Oct 02 08:26:59 +0000 2014

About Jilly and Ros

   @JillyCL @RosalindaHu you ladies see a twisted plot in every detail #mccann ‐Wed Sep 03 14:12:58 +0000 2014

       RT @Josephodriscoll: @JillyCL @Arrowmiff @SafariSara @alfibab3 For seven years you've been one of the worst trolls on #McCann !! Suddenly g… ‐Fri Oct 03 21:13:36 +0000

About Coco This 'Coco' in NOT our member of the same name.   Sykes

   @siamesey @chilledkev @1matthewwright1 you have always been very aggressive #mccann ‐Fri Oct 03 21:19:46 +0000 2014

Others

   @1matthewwright1 @Randomleigh1 @B_balou the hate in that Instagram account is identical to what I've see displayed here #mccann ‐Mon Aug 11 10:13:57 +0000 2014

   @1matthewwright1 @Randomleigh1 @B_balou the hate I see on here is overwhelming #mccann ‐Mon Aug 11 10:10:29 +0000 2014

Postby Jayelles » Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:42 am
The bit that the hounders don't get is that the media are REALLY not interested in tit for tat on social networking sites. If two people with opposing views want to smack each other about or call each other names on Twitter or Facebook then that is a level playing field and of no more interest to the media than two women fighting over a trolley in Tescos. Social media spats are ten a penny and NOT newsworthy.

Same goes for blogs. If one person with a public blog writes and publishes an article, then another blogger is perfectly within his or her rights to write an article responding to the points made in the first one.

It is not libelous to call someone an eejit or even a fecking eejit.

What they FAIL to understand is that their actions are despicable, cowardly and all too frequently involve hateful lies. They seen incapable of being able to distinguish between their freedom of expression and the other person's right not to be harassed, libeled or abused. Most of them cry victim if anyone so much as calls them vile. Then they say THEY are being "bullied" by the evil pro McCanns (i.e. people who are simply appalled at the abuse this family receives every single day online by a bunch of fruitloop obsessives). It's pathetic.

Anonymous internet accounts making a grieving family's lives a misery whilst claiming THEY are being bullied? You couldn't make it up!

And as for Sweepyface - she is unfortunately bearing the brunt (no pun intended) for THEIR actions because IF her hounder pals weren't online spewing THEIR bile, it's quite unlikely that she would have spewed hers. She has become the face of the McCann hater even although she wasn't one of the ringleaders or even one of the worst (and I say this cautiously because we know that her worst stuff was not made public) who would have been infinitely more deserving of that dishonour. Nevertheless, she HAS become the public face of their activities. Jilly, Dodgy, Dangly, Coco, Pillow, Babalou, Stoppa, Steelman & co are all "in the clear" for now whilst Sweepy takes the heat from an outraged public.

Yet still they don't "get" it. The very day the news all broke, they flocked to social media to demonstrate precisely what the fuss was about. Some of them tried to use the publicity to get across some of their hater myths and others just strutted their stuff. Martin Brunt did an #askbrunt session on Twitter which they flocked to like flies around a honey pot. It was a clever way of showing the public that his special report was spot on.

They have zero self awareness. (Hopefully) Sweepy will now be wishing she hadn't made any of her vile comments - especially as ironically, she is now experiencing precisely what she wished upon other innocent people. They say that a wise man learns from the mistakes of others whilst a fool needs to learn from his own. If I were an anti just now, I'd be counting my lucky stars that it wasn't me who had become the face of the hate campaign against the McCanns and I'd be steering well clear of any platform which might land me in the same boat. Are they? Not a bit of it. Instead they are taking to Twittersphere to spew their hate at the people who had the common decency to report their threats and abuse of a family with two young children to the proper authorities.

The bottom line is that they don't have to conduct this hate campaign against the McCann family. It isn't going to significantly impoverish their lives by NOT posting hateful abuse and lies about the family of a missing child whom they don't even know (or if it would, then they truly need help). But their hate and lies IS affecting the McCann family detrimentally and could even put them in danger. That is not a level playing field. They really need to find some proper hobbies and salvage what they can of their miserable lives.

Jayelles: I have apparently become a focus for their vitriol, but it's merely further proof of their insecurities. They can call me all the names they like because a) I don't read it and b) even if I did come across any of it, it truly is water off a duck's back. Besides, I'd rather they posted abuse at me and left vulnerable people alone. I pity them.

I have barely engaged with the goons. preferring to respond to their misinformation here or on the blog. They accuse me of outing them and posting photos of their children - none of which is true.

They confuse me with Tigerloaf and twice in the past week, a hounder has said "Look what Jayelles has posted" - and either linked to or posted a screencapture of Tigerloaf's posts. At least one of them is so obsessed with me that he talks about me all the time and credits me with way too much. He and a few other conspiraloons claim that I "control" people. They are as daft as brushes. I express my opinion and people either agree or disagree with it.

Joana Morais especially has it in for me just now which I find more than a little bizarre considering that I have rarely ever mentioned her and I seldom, if ever, comment on her idol, Goncalo Amaral. Frankly, I don't know enough about either of them to comment - other than to say that Morais often sounds hysterical and I find her hypocrisy on the subject of freedom of speech quite stunning because whilst screeching rabidly about her own right to freedom of speech, she regularly seeks to censor others. That is a fact. She tries to get discussion forums closed down and material removed from the internet which she doesn't like. That is the OPPOSITE of believing in freedom of speech. We saw her in action too over the Summers and Swan book. She went into meltdown because they quoted a tiny bit from her blog in their book - got into cahoots with Isabelle McFadden in an effort to get Amazon to take action yet Morais owns a website which consists primarily of copyrighted newspaper articles which have been copied and pasted.

More hypocrisy. These people are inadequate in so many respects.

Jayelles wrote: I agree that this woman should be investigated. She is utterly obsessed and she often tweets all the way around the clock. Many of her tweets are C&P anti McCann propaganda.

However, I think she probably comes under the category of people "who need help" rather than jail.

Tigerloaf wrote: Nothing wrong with being a completely obsessive crank, so long as you don't affect others with your insanity.

The problem with JillyCL is that she posts clear lies about a family who have a missing child, she retweets horrendous nastiness and has no qualms about the distress she is causing and the problems she is causing for the McCann family and particularly the two young twins.

Her actions are utterly disgraceful and a clear case of deliberate and prolonged harassment. She is as deserving of a public outing as Brenda Leyland and may find it coming sooner than she thinks.

I don't personally care whether she is sectioned or prosecuted. Both would be thoroughly deserved.

She is clearly a very lonely old woman who has no family to care for or family who care for her otherwise her non-stop tweeting would not be possible.

Mail: Internet troll who targeted McCanns found dead in hotel room

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781377/BREAKING-NEWS-Internet-troll-targeted-McCanns-dead-hotel-room-days-fleeing-home.html

BREAKING NEWS: Internet troll who targeted McCanns found dead in hotel room days after fleeing her home
Brenda Leyland, 63, was found dead in Leicestershire hotel room
She was one of the trolls accused of targeting internet abuse at McCanns
Comes just days after it was reported she had fled her home

By STEPHANIE LINNING FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 18:16, 5 October 2014 | UPDATED: 18:16, 5 October 2014

The woman who was this week unveiled as one of the trolls accused of targeting internet abuse at Madeleine Mccann's parents has been found dead in a Leicestershire hotel.
Brenda Leyland, 63, was identified as one of the people posting online hate messages aimed at the McCanns, whose daughter disappeared during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007.
Leicestershire Police were called to a hotel in Smith Way, Grove Park in Enderby, Leicester today. A spokeswoman said the death was not being treated as suspicious

The incident comes just days after it was reported that Mrs Leyland had fled her Leicestershire home.
Using the Twitter handle @sweepyface, the middle-class woman posted dozens of messages attacking the family.
Mrs Leyland was tracked down to her house in Burton Overy, Leicestershire by Sky News reporter Martin Brunt and confronted about her online activities.
When asked why she was using her Twitter account to attack the McCanns, who live with their younger children, nine-year-old twins, in Rothley, Leicestershire, Mrs Leyland replied: 'I'm entitled to do that.'
And when Mr Brunt told her that she had been reported to police, and that Scotland Yard was considering a dossier of Twitter accounts said to show a 'campaign of abuse' against the McCanns, she paused as she got into a 4x4 and replied: 'That's fair enough.'
The footage of the encounter was aired on Sky earlier this week.
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: 'Police were called at 1.42pm on Saturday 4 October to reports of a body of a woman in a hotel room in Smith Way, Grove Park.
'Officers have attended the scene and a file is being prepared for the coroner.
'Identification of the deceased is a matter of the coroner
'The death is not being treateed as suspicious.'
Scotland Yard is currently investigating the posting online of hundreds of hate messages aimed at the McCanns, whose daughter disappeared during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007.
Detectives have decided to act after being given a dossier from McCann family supporters which catalogues the abusive remarks – including death threats – aimed at the couple on Twitter, Facebook and online forums.

Tigerloaf: It is a very sad that Brenda Leyland has apparently chosen not to continue her life. She has, it would appear according to the Daily Mail, chosen to commit suicide instead of facing up to the things she has done under the pseudonym of “Sweepyface”.

This woman, in her sixties, was so devastated at being found out as the person behind the disgusting and abusive tweets posted under that pseudonym that she felt she had to take this drastic step.

She actually made two clear choices. The first was to deliberately inflict a sustained hate campaign on two innocent people. She followed the other haters and spread the same lies and abuse as them with no compunction at all. Her Facebook posts show that her opinions about the McCanns were, at least in part, based on the lies spread by the haters and not upon actual truth.

She claimed that she was entitled to do this when confronted. The truth was, I suspect, deep down she recognised she was not entitled to do it at all.

Having been confronted over her actions, actions which are not in dispute at all, she made her second decision. She chose not to face up to the consequences of her actions having been exposed.

No-one forced her to choose to post abuse and no-one forced her to take her final action. I am very sorry for her family who have to face the consequences of her actions.

Heather Blewett Disgraceful still calling her a 'troll' no respect!
   15 mins · Like · 6

   Chris Taylor Disgusting reporting from sky, the spin has started.
   14 mins · Like · 5

   Burradon Buskers McCanns claim another victim.
   12 mins · Like · 7

   Johanna Woolcock Purnell Shocking! Rip Brenda xx we want answers now!
   11 mins · Like · 3

   Shazzan Depz Munley so sad love to the family xxxxx
   9 mins · Like · 1

   Angela Gill RIP Brenda. Waste of a life. Shocking skynews and the reporters who targeted her. Sue the Bastards
   9 mins · Like · 2

   Sonya Griffin RIP Brenda, it should never have got this far. McCanns will do anything it takes to sue for libel damages case. where there's a claim there's £££ signs
   7 mins · Edited · Like · 3

   Kate Thornbury Crucified for speaking her mind god bless R I P
   8 mins · Like · 5

   Andrew Harvey That's terrible news. She was ultimately trolled by a corrupt media. They persecuted her and are to blame for her death. I can't understand the lunacy that means the media can broadcast or print anything they like be it truthful or not without censure and yet if an average person expresses an opinion they are targeted and vilified... Pure madness.  

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-internet-troll-found-4386183

'Madeleine McCann internet troll found dead' after being exposed for sending hate messages to parents
Oct 05, 2014 19:40 By Anthony Bond

Brenda Leyland, 63, was found dead in a hotel room after being exposed on Sky News for sending vile tweets to Kate and Gerry McCann

A woman accused of targeting the parents of Madeleine McCann with internet abuse is believed to have been found dead in a hotel, it emerged tonight.

Brenda Leyland, 63, was exposed on Sky News after posting vile tweets to Kate and Gerry McCann.

Using the Twitter handle @sweepyface, she was accused of posting dozens of hate messages the Maddy's parents.

But it has now emerged that she was found dead yesterday at a hotel in Leicester.

Police confirmed they attended the hotel and found the body of a woman. The incident is not being treated as suspicious.

Her death comes just days after Sky News reporter Martin Brunt tracked Mrs Leyland down to her home in Burton Overy, Leicestershire .

She was asked why she had been targeting the family, to which she replied: 'I'm entitled to do that.'

Sky News showed the footage on Thursday and the following day Mrs Leyland went missing from her home.

In a statement, Leicestershire Police said: “Police were called at 1.42pm yesterday Sat Oct 4 to a report of the body of a woman at a hotel in Smithway, Grove Park.

"Officers have attended the scene and a file is being prepared for the coroner. Identification of the deceased is a matter for the coroner. The death is not being treated as suspicious.”.

Police were probing a dossier of vile tweets targeting the parents of Madeleine, who has never been found after disappearing aged 3 during a family holiday in Portugal in May 2007.

Kate and Gerry have been subjected to disgusting attacks by trolls, some of whom have suggested the couple be tortured of killed.

The dossier, which includes 80 tweets, Facebook posts and forum messages, was handed to the Metropolitan Police by members of the public who feared for the McCann's safety.

One message board comment reportedly said: "These 2 [the McCanns] should burn in hell."

Sky News said other posts in the dossier included:"I hope that the McCanns are living in total misery" and "I want to see them smashed up the back of a bus or trampled by horses".

Some messages were said to have been directed at Madeleine's younger siblings, now aged nine.

The posts were gathered by people who are concerned about the abuse.

One campaigner, who did not wish to be named, told Sky News: "We're very worried that it's only going to take somebody to act out of some of these discussions, some of the threats that have been made, and we couldn't live with ourselves if that happened and we had done nothing."

The material is being assessed by officers who are liaising with prosecutors and the missing girl's family.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We can confirm we received a letter and documentation on September 9 which was passed to officers from Operation Grange. They are assessing its contents and consulting with the CPS and the McCann family."

Operation Grange is the name for the Metropolitan Police's involvement in the search for Madeleine.

She went missing in Portugal when aged three in May 2007.

So-called trolling is a mounting problem for the authorities. Last year Scotland Yard said around 1,500 additional crimes linked to internet abuse were being reported to the force each year

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/05/body-found-brenda-leyland-madeleine-mccann-trolling-claims

Body found in hotel room thought to be of woman accused of McCann trolling
Brenda Leyland was confronted by TV reporter over claims she sent abuse on Twitter about Madeleine McCann’s disappearance

Kevin Rawlinson
The Guardian, Sunday 5 October 2014 19.31 BST

A body, believed to be that of a woman accused of trolling Madeleine McCann’s family online, was found in a hotel room on Saturday, police have said.

Brenda Leyland, 63, was confronted by a television news reporter over the claim that she used Twitter to post a series of comments attacking the McCanns , whose daughter disappeared in Portugal in 2007.

She was said to have left her home after the exchange last week about the claims. However, no direct link can be made between the incident and her death, which officers said was not being treated as suspicious.

On Facebook, her son Ben Leyland wrote: “I love you mum and I will miss you forever.”

A Leicestershire police spokeswoman said: “Police were called at 1.42pm on Saturday 4 October to reports of a body of a woman in a hotel room in Smith Way, Grove Park.

“Officers have attended the scene and a file is being prepared for the coroner. Identification of the deceased is a matter for the coroner.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious.”

Internet troll who targeted McCanns found dead in hotel room days after fleeing home when she was revealed to be behind online campaign of vitriol  

By Andy Dolan for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:16 GMT, 5 October 2014 | Updated: 20:29 GMT, 5 October 2014

Brenda Leyland, 63, was identified as one of the people posting online hate messages aimed at the McCanns. Above, Mrs Leyland pictured this week

A church-going mother who was accused of trolling Madeleine McCann’s parents has been found dead in a hotel room.

Brenda Leyland, 63, was found dead at a Marriott hotel on Saturday around 15 miles from her immaculately kept village home.

Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

Divorcee Mrs Leyland had been identified as one of a number of online ‘trolls’ posting a series of abusive comments about Kate and Gerry McCann, by Sky News last Thursday.

She told a reporter who confronted her that she had been ‘entitled’ to make the comments using her Twitter identity @Sweepyface.

Yesterday, her son, Ben, 20, who is said to be studying law in Los Angeles, posted the following brief tribute: ‘I love you mum and I will miss you forever’. His friends then began passing on their condolences on the site.

Last night, neighbours of Mrs Leyland, who had continued using her married name, told of their shock at her death.

One said: ‘Brenda kept herself very much to herself, but people were surprised when she was accused of trolling the McCanns. You don’t expect something that like around here. It’s a very quiet place.

‘But the village will be shocked by this news. I’m sure no-one would have expected her to do something like this. People didn’t condone what she is said to have done, but it is obviously very sad when anybody is found dead.’

Burton Overy was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is just 15 miles from the McCanns’ home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

Mrs Leyland, who was educated at a convent school and studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, is among a group of hate-filled critics of Kate and Gerry McCann who have posted hundreds of vile messages about the couple online.

The trollers wrongly believe the McCanns were involved in their daughter’s disappearance.

Among the many comments attributed to Mrs Leyland on Twitter was one that said: ‘Q ‘how long must the Mccanns suffer’ answer ‘for the rest of their miserable lives’.’

Last week the father of Madeleine McCann called for an example to be made of ‘vile’ internet trolls who have been targeting the family.

Gerry McCann said he had ‘grave concerns’ about letting his nine-year-old twins use the internet after threats of violence and kidnapping.

The comments, in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, came after it emerged that police are looking at a dossier of abuse posted on Twitter, Facebook and chat forums.

Mr McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz in 2007, said he and wife Kate did not read such material because it was too “upsetting”.

Mr McCann said. ‘Clearly something needs to be done about the abuse on the internet. I’m glad to say that there have been a number of people who have either been taken action by the police.

‘I think we probably need more people charged.’

Asked about ‘@sweepyface’, Mr McCann said: “I haven’t read her tweets ... I think that is an issue, that our behaviour is modified by this.


Mrs Leyland was found dead at the Leicester Marriott Hotel, pictured, around 15 miles from her home

‘We do not have any significant presence on social media or online. And I’ve got grave concerns about our children as they grow up and start to access the internet in an unsupervised capacity.

‘There have been other instances where people are threatening to kidnap our children. People are threatening violence against Kate and myself.

‘Of course it’s not just us - it is many other people who happen to fund themselves in rather tragic circumstances.

‘I’m glad to see the law around this area is being reviewed. But I do think we need to make examples of people who are causing damage.’

The troll investigation featured in numerous newspapers including The Guardian, The Independent, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Daily Star, The Daily Express as well as the Daily Mail after Sky News exposed her identity as one of the trolls who targeted the McCanns.

Residents of Burton Overy, where Mrs Leyland lived, were shocked to hear of her death

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: ‘Police were called at 1.42pm on Saturday 4 October to reports of a body of a woman in a hotel room in Smith Way, Grove Park, Leicester.

‘Officers have attended the scene and a file is being prepared for the coroner. Identification of the deceased is a matter of the coroner ‘The death is not being treated as suspicious.’ A spokesman for the Marriott hotel said he had nothing to add beyond the police statement.

Scotland Yard is currently investigating the posting online of hundreds of hate messages aimed at the McCanns, both aged 46, whose daughter disappeared during a family holiday to Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007, when she was aged three.The couple also have twins, aged nine.
Using the Twitter handle @sweepyface, Mrs Leyland posted dozens of messages attacking the McCann family

Yesterday her son Ben, who is believed to be living in Los Angeles, posted a brief tribute to his mother on Facebook

Using the Twitter handle @sweepyface, Mrs Leyland posted dozens of messages attacking the McCann family

Detectives have decided to act after being given a dossier from McCann family supporters which catalogues the abusive remarks - including death threats - aimed at the couple on Twitter, Facebook and online forums.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman last week confirmed officers were assessing the contents of ‘documentation’ which has been passed to officers and were consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service and the McCanns.

Last night, a spokesman for Marriott Hotels International Ltd said: ‘We are very sad to confirm the death of a guest at the Leicester Marriott Hotel and our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased. As this is a police matter and an investigation is underway, we are unable to comment further and enquiries should be directed to the police.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781377/BREAKING-NEWS-Internet-troll-targeted-McCanns-dead-hotel-room-days-fleeing-home.html#ixzz3FIxoACHm
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook  

http://news.sky.com/story/1347948/mccann-abuser-believed-to-have-been-found-dead

McCann Abuser Believed To Have Been Found Dead
21:56, UK, Sunday 05 October 2014

A woman who abused the parents of Madeleine McCann on social media is believed to have been found dead in a Leicestershire hotel.

Brenda Leyland was featured in a Sky News report on internet abuse earlier this week.

A spokesman for Leicestershire police said: "Police were called at 1.42pm on Saturday 4 October to a report of a body of a woman in a hotel room in Smith Way, Grove Park, Leicester.

"Officers attended the scene, and a file is being prepared for the coroner.

"Identification of the deceased is a matter for the coroner, and the death is not being treated as suspicious."

coco wrote:see chucky' s using this woman' s death to make herself the centre of attention as usual , disgusting.