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DAILY MIRROR SATURDAY 31.05.20144 DMUULS
rallies back minorities after spate of attacksBy Lisa smythA SERIES of rallies and meetings have been planned to highlight the mounting public outrage at racist attacks in Northern Ireland.
The first demonstration is due to start at noon today outside Belfast City Hall.
It follows racist hate attacks on homes across the city in recent weeks and a row over comments made by First Minister Peter Robinson is support of Pastor James McConnell.
Organisers of today’s event said:
“Attacks on migrants are shaming. A clear rise in racial prejudice is shaming. Widespread and growing Islamophobia is shaming.
“The fact that Anna Lo is now considering leaving Northern Ireland due to racism, that’s shaming – but shame isn’t enough.
“It’s time to show some solidarity and support for Belfast’s migrants and ethnic minor-ities.” On Tuesday
Alliance MLA Ms Lo, pictured, will join other politicians, trade unionists and members of the Islamic commu-nity at a public meeting to discuss the problem at the Holiday Inn on
Belfast’s Ormeau Road at 7pm.And a major march against
racism in the city next Saturday has been announced by Amnesty International, the Northern Ireland
Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities.
STALKER TERROR OF TV RACHEL
were sent between October 2012 and May 2013.
In Januar y last year para-noid schizo-phrenic Wells wrote: “Rachel A n n a b e l l e R i l e y w a s caught having
underage sex with a minor
back stage on countdown.
“Rumours suggest she is dying of cancer.”
The blog featured a number of songs – many
commentBY laura richards� , director of anti-stalking group paladin
Any of us can be victims of harassment
Like Rachel, i have also been cyber-stalked. it started in 2010 but i didn’t know i was actually being stalked for a while.
i got calls from people saying a man kept calling and saying disturbing things. i didn’t know him. Then he started sending me emails through the night, saying he wanted to come to my home.
i didn’t report it as i thought i could deal with it. i used to be head of the Homicide Prevention Unit at New Scotland Yard and reviewed the murder of Clare Bernal who was stalked and murdered. From that, i set up a charity called Protection Against Stalking with Clare’s family.
For me, the tipping point came when i opened my emails and the first line was my home address. i felt very fearful. i knew he was trying to approach me, i didn’t know what he was capable of.
i called the police and it turned out the man was mentally ill. He was arrested and got a warning. He was put back on medication and at the moment it has stopped. i’ve been on television talking about stalking and he had picked me up from that.
Celebrities like Rachel aren’t the only ones who are stalked. it’s an issue for normal people too and social media is facilitating this.
FoR ■ information about her anti-stalking group Paladin, visit paladinservice.co.uk or call 0207 840 8960.
cOuNTdOWN star rachel riley suffered a terrifying eight-month campaign of abuse from an online stalker, who ranted: “i hope your eyes bleed and your skin dries.”
The “distressed” 28-year-old was bombarded with more than 500 abusive and sexual tweets from mentally ill Anthony Wells, a court heard yesterday.
Wells – who was given a five-year restraining order and sectioned – also claimed Rachel was dying of cancer and falsely alleged she had been caught having sex with a minor backstage at Countdown.
The troll, 31, lived just 20 miles away from the Strictly Come Dancing star, who was left fearing “violence would be used against her”, the charge against him said.
In one disturbing tweet he wrote: “Please someone execute this fiend of nature.” He also targeted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and in a post on the site about both stars he wrote: “Kill them now.”
Wells’s profile included a link to a blog where he wrote sinister songs about the TV presenter. One, entitled God Left Her Alone (A Ode To The Dead Girl Rachel), read: “I hope you die forever, I hope you cry forever, I hope you die now.
“I hope your eyes bleed and your skin dries and your dream dies. I hope you fall to the earth like a child lost at birth... Dedicated to Rachel Annabelle Riley.”
He also called her a “dirty b****” and described her as the “worst piece of s*** that ever lived in this horrid little earth”.
ABUSiveThe abuse started weeks after she
married her university sweetheart Jamie Gilbert in August 2012. The couple broke up 16 months later.
Prosecutor Jamie Sawyer told the court of Wells: “Effectively what he did was send a persistent series of abusive Twitter messages.
“Rachel Riley is something of a celebrity, a TV presenter on Countdown, who uses her Twitter account to communicate with fans and advertise where she will be attending.
“Around 500 tweets were sent during the time of the indictment. The nature of these messages w a s a l w a y s abusive. The messages sent t o R a c h e l R i l e y o f c o u r s e caused her distress.”
He said her personal st a t e m e n t – which was not read o u t – g av e a “graphic” descrip-tion of her reac-t i o n t o t h e tweets, which
disturbed Wells leaves court in essex yesterday
targeted The Countdown host was bombarded with vile messages exClusive
By Louie smith
DMUULSSATURDAY 31.05.2014 DAILY MIRROR 5mirror.co.uk
STALKER TERROR OF TV RACHEL
I hope your eyes bleed
& your skin dries & you die foreverCountdown star left in fear after sick web rants
couple� Rachel with Jamie before their split
SINISTe�R� One of the tweets to Chris BIZAR�R�e� Post about Rachel and Chris, right
twitter horrorGlamorous TV star Rachel
dedicated to her. One went: “I cry every second I’m alone, I hope rachel dies burnt to stone.” In a post written on the same day Wells made a s i n i st e r rap e reference.
He wrote: “I love so many good looking women on this earth I could be happy forever.
“The trick, is, to seduce them in a way that does not cause a ripple effect and inform them all of my
intentions to seduce them. The key as always, is good thermals, good masks, and plenty of duct tape. More later. :)”
Many of the Twitter posts were aimed at both Rachel and Coldplay’s Chris, 37. One for the singer read: “Hey chris martin, keep touching me and I’m going to blow your children’s heads off with guns.” Another said: “Chris Martin is brutally attacking Rachel Riley... he is a vile sick beast.”
At Basildon crown court in Essex yesterday Wells admitted one charge of harassing Rachel relating to the tweets. He denied a similar charge over the alleged harassment of singer Chris and this was left to lie on file. Judge Owen Davies QC imposed
a restraining order banning Wells, of Chelms-ford, Essex, from contacting Rachel or Chris directly or indirectly.
He also sectioned Wells under the Mental Health Act.
The troll’s lawyer Eleanor Scott said her client had been diag-nosed as paranoid schizo-phrenic. She said: “At the time Mr Wells was significantly inf luenced by psychotic
thinking. He is still a very mentally fragile individual but has
pleaded guilty to the charge and understands what he did was wrong. He is happy to abide by a restraining order.”
Addressing Wells, the judge said: “You’re currently in hospital and for the moment
that is the right place for you to be.” CPS chief Punam Malhan said that Chris had agreed Wells’ guilty plea over Rachel was “acceptable to ensure he gets the medical help he needs”.
Mr Malhan added: “Taking Mr Martin’s view into account we decided it was no longer in the public interest to continue with the second charge of harassment.
“We take allegations of this kind seriously, especially where there is evidence of a course of conduct which causes fear to someone, regardless of whether a victim is in the public eye.”
