- In short: Brendan Godfrey and Paul Hudson created and used fake social media accounts to "taunt, mock and ridicule" a man who they said was posting misinformation about COVID-19 online, the court heard
- What's next? Godfrey and Hudson will be sentenced in July
A man who, along with another Tasmanian, harassed and menaced a man via fake social media accounts says he did it because the victim was posting misinformation about COVID-19 online.
Brendan George Godfrey, 39, has pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass and cause offence.
The matter was heard before Chief Magistrate Catherine Geason in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday.
The court heard that Godfrey created social media profiles imitating the complainant and posted images of him which were captioned with offensive comments.
Some of the comments included calling the complainant a "flog" and a "mess of a human".
The court heard Godfrey also sent emails to his victim, one of which said he was "everywhere and always watching" the victim and his family while another email was titled "found you".
The lawyer representing Godfrey told the court it was never his client's intention to cause fear or apprehension in the complainant.
Instead, he said, he was doing it because the man was posting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which angered Godfrey, who at the time was awaiting a kidney transplant.
"The posts were intended to taunt him, to mock and ridicule," Godfrey's lawyer said. "The intention of the post was essentially to 'troll'."
"It's not mocking and ridicule. It goes well beyond that. It's threatening and harassing," Magistrate Geason said.
Teaching career at risk if convicted, lawyer says
The court heard that while Godfrey perpetrated most of the harassment, a second man, 39-year-old Paul Hudson, also participated by creating Facebook and email accounts on behalf of Mr Godfrey.
Hudson has pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Hudson's lawyer told the court his client was "deeply remorseful for his conduct" but was ignorant of the effects the bullying would have on the victim.
"[Hudson] accepts his actions were wrong and if he could take them back he would," his lawyer said.
In his plea mitigation, Hudson asked the court to take into consideration he was in his final year of a teaching degree and any conviction would risk future employment opportunities.
"There is a serious risk in this offence that he will not be able to be a teacher," his lawyer said.
"Four years of studying … will result in nothing."
A victim impact statement was provided and read before the court, detailing how the harassment affected the victim.
"I have never experienced anything so vindictive, cruel and despicable in my life," the Crown prosecutor read from the statement.
The victim said he became so paranoid and anxious he stopped sleeping or leaving his house.
He also expressed the impact the event had on his partner and two children.
"Honestly, I am a shell of my former self – they took my life," he said.
Godfrey and Hudson will return to court in July for sentencing.
