BrewDog chief executive James Watt has brought a private prosecution against a woman who he claims was responsible for malicious comments made about him on social media.
The Guardian reports that in a pre-trial hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, lawyers for Watt set out allegations against Emili Ziem, who has no permanent address in the UK, accusing her of fraud and malicious communications.
Lawyers for Ziem indicated at the hearing that she is preparing to contest the claims and will not comment on the details of the case while proceedings are active.
The first charge against her was of fraud that accuses her of dishonesty, arguing she obtained information about “people responsible for malicious communications” about Watt. She was reportedly “intending to make a gain” for herself and to cause a loss to him, or expose him to the risk of loss.
The second charge is for malicious communications, which accuses Ziem of sending posts from an Instagram account with the username Laurakeller341, “which conveyed information which was false and which you knew or believed to be false for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient, or to any other person to whom you intended that it or its contents or nature should be communicated”.
Ziem was granted bail with no restrictions. The case was allocated to Southwark Crown Court for a further pre-trial hearing on 1 June.
Grosvenor Law is acting for Watt, while Ziem is represented by Bark & Co.
The case follows reports earlier this year that Watt hired private investigator to track the source of what he describes as a "coordinated criminal campaign of online harassment, defamation, blackmail, significant fraud and malicious communications".
Watt took to LinkedIn to set the record straight, stating that the campaign of harassment began two years ago, when "appalling lies about me" were sent by third parties, "operating through troll accounts", to a large number of his social media connections.
In their own words, they had been working together on "a plot to bring James down".
He confirmed that services of the digital investigative specialists were sought to identify the source of the allegations and "identify the individuals who defrauded me".
As a direct result, and following an order obtained from the High Court based on written evidence, Watt and his team were able to identify those involved.
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