InstagramA social media marketer who launched an “unrelenting” online stalking campaign against a motivational speaker and a businesswoman has been jailed
Samantha Wall, 55, bombarded “totally innocent” Brad Burton and Naomi Timperley with abusive messages designed to ruin their reputations, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Wall, of Cheadle in Stockport, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to two counts of stalking and one of improper use of a public electronic communications network between January 2019 and April 2023.
Sentencing Wall to 28 months in prison, Judge Neil Usher told her she was responsible for an “unrelenting barrage of abuse designed to maximise fear and distress”.
Alan PriceNicholas Flanagan, prosecuting, said self-employed Mr Burton had briefly been introduced to Wall during a January 2019 event he hosted, with about 200 attendees, at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham.
Wall asked him to pose for a photograph with her and their exchange lasted less than two minutes.
The court heard that months later, and throughout 2020, Mr Burton was told by colleagues that posts intending to damage his reputation were coming from social media accounts in the name of a Sam Wall.
Mr Burton blocked her from all his social media sites, the prosecutor said, but Wall was undeterred and began to falsely claim that he and others were abusing her.
He then turned to two legal companies who wrote to Wall to advise her to stop posting about Mr Burton.
She responded by posting one of the letters on social media.
Mr Flanagan said: “The attacks then intensified.
“The defendant claimed that Mr Burton had poisoned her cat, had continually called her, and made claims that he was having affairs. This was particularly distressing, as Mr Burton is happily married.”
In June 2022, Wall posted on Twitter that Mr Burton had tried to kill her, the court heard, and went on to falsely claim that he was being investigated by the police for stalking and harassing her.
The prosecutor said Wall maintained she was the victim when she was arrested in September 2022.
A month later, after she was bailed, she restarted her attacks on multiple social media platforms and claimed Mr Burton was in prison and “had a psychopathic twin brother who was covering for him”.
In his victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Burton said: “Traumatic. That single word captures the devastating impact of Sam Wall’s actions on my life and my family.
“For four-plus years, her relentless campaign of lies, harassment and character assassination has dominated every corner of our existence, mentally, emotionally, financially, and digitally.
“I spent decades building a career from nothing, establishing a nationwide business network in the UK, writing books and inspiring thousands. But Sam’s fabricated accusations calling me a convicted violent offender, fraud, stalker, have tarnished my name, eroded trust and devastated my family’s sense of security.
“Her intentional actions have damaged my career and invaded every aspect of my personal life.
“She has shown zero remorse or any acceptance of the damage she’s inflicted, instead continuing to sow seeds for further harm by presenting herself as the aggrieved party.”
GMPEntrepreneur Ms Timperley also reported being harassed by the defendant, said Mr Flanagan, although they had never met.
Wall posted fake messages which claimed Ms Timperley had targeted her and warned: “Time to take criminal action with you all. You won’t like it.”
Mr Flanagan said: “Ms Timperley took this as a direct threat and it left her terrified.”
In her victim impact statement, Ms Timperley said: “For over two-and-a-half years I was hunted through hashtags, chased through timelines, cornered in comment sections.
“My name dragged through the dirt of digital spaces that once held community but became cages of cruelty.”
Emma Clarke, defending, said Wall had been diagnosed with chronic delusional mental illness.
She said Wall had been the target of online abuse since news of the case had emerged, and was “crying out for support, guidance and medical intervention”.
Judge Usher told Wall: “This was a deliberate and calculated campaign of online stalking of the most egregious kind.”
Following sentencing, PC Wayne Hasselby of Greater Manchester Police said: “These types of cases are extremely traumatic for victims to go through.
“Online stalking can leave victims and survivors fearful of every move they make as they never know what these individuals are capable of, or whether they know their physical whereabouts
“It is hard to escape online harassment as so much of our lives are now online. This particular campaign of harassment took a toll on her victims’ mental health and day-to-day life.
“I’m glad this has finally been put to an end, and they can now find some closure and move on with their lives.”
