Keeley Houghton, an 18-year-old bully from Malvern, Worcestershire, has been detained for three months in a young offenders' institution for threatening to kill another girl on social networking website Facebook.
Houghton, pictured below, is believed to be the first person in Britain convicted of threatening behaviour on the web, a crime often referred to as cyber-bullying.
On July 12th, Houghton updated her Facebook profile stating that she would kill 18-year-old Emily Moore, a girl she had bullied for four years since attending school together. Houghton's blunt message read "Keeley is going to murder the bitch. She is an actress. What a f***ing liberty. Emily F***head Moore."
In Worcester Crown Court, Houghton pleaded guilty to harassment after it became clear that Houghton had led a hate campaign against Miss Moore since the age of 14. Houghton also has a history of violent offences. In 2005, she was convicted of assaulting Miss Moore as she walked home from school and in 2007 she was convicted of causing damage after attempting to kick down the front door of Miss Moore's home.
In addition to her three months at a young offenders' institution, Houghton has been handed a five-year restraining order, preventing her from contacting Miss Moore via any means. Whilst reading the verdict, District Judge Bruce Morgan told Houghton: "Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her. Bullies are by their nature cowards, in school and society. The evil, odious effects of being bullied stay with you for life. On this day you did an act of gratuitous nastiness to satisfy your own twisted nature."
Following the verdict, Miss Moore told The Sun that she had been bullied for years and ultimately feared for her life. "Every day I would cry and beg mum not to send me to school. It was a nightmare," she said, adding that Houghton's abuse "consumed my every waking moment for the past four years. I got so scared I couldn't even turn on my computer."
