Man jailed for poison-pen Facebook plot to get neighbour arrested

Intimidated: Andrew Small with his wife Annie. Mr Small was the victim of Andrew Currie’s fake Facebook account filled with abusive remarks
Tony Palmer7 November 2016
WEST END FINAL

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A man who created a fake poison-pen Facebook account in a “sophisticated” bid to get his neighbour arrested has been jailed for 10 months.

Andrew Currie, 48, took a photograph from a local newspaper to set up the bogus profile in the name of his neighbour Andrew Small, 57.

Entries purportedly made by the victim described the Curries as a “spastic family”, “in-bred”, and threatened to poison their dogs and set their house on fire, alongside calls that the “KKK are needed in Croydon”.

The page also said Mr Small “hates disabled people”, thinks “mixed-race children should be a crime” and enjoys spying on his neighbours in their showers.

Croydon Crown Court heard that police were on the brink of arresting Mr Small, a construction project manager, when an officer became suspicious. Kate Lumsden, prosecuting, said: “An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Small, but one officer examined a Freedom of Information request from the victim and saw how well-written it was in comparison.”

Offender: Andrew Currie has been jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice
Tony Palmer

The court was told that Currie, who is on disability benefits, became angered by his neighbour’s successful battle against the introduction of a residents’ parking zone in their Croydon street. He pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice between April and August 2014 by falsely claiming Mr Small had made the insults.

His partner, mother-of-five Joanna Goodwin, 41, who lives with him, was also arrested and charged with the same offence, but this was dropped by the prosecution. Miss Lumsden told the court the account was created the day after Mr Small’s wife, Annie, a 57-year-old personal assistant, called police after being abused by Currie’s children in the street.

She said: “The next day Mr Currie attended the front desk of Croydon Police Station to complain about a Facebook page in the name of Mr Small. Mr Currie demanded that Mr Small be immediately arrested and told the police it was a waste of time to investigate the internet IP address.”

Officers applied to Facebook for details of the account and arrested Currie on August 6, 2014.

Thomas Quinn, defending Currie, told the court: “He was in a bad place and took it out on his neighbours over a short period of time. It was very amateurish. It is easy to set up a Facebook account and was detected very easily. He’s not a sophisticated person.”

Jailing him for 10 months, Judge Daniel Flahive told Currie: “You falsely claimed Mr Small set up a Facebook account and made abusive remarks... It is not amateurish, it was quite sophisticated and took a bit of time to do.

“Your offending has had a great effect on your neighbours and you expressed little remorse. Anyone who makes false allegations to the police and asks for the arrest of others must receive a prison sentence.”

After the hearing, Mr Small, who is on sabbatical from work with stress and has fitted CCTV outside his home, said: “It’s been going on for years. He won’t learn and will just carry on hurting people. It’s a nightmare.”

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