Why Online Anonymity Is Essential To Public Discourse
Man has throat slashed in ‘web rage’
By Fran YeomanPolice have warned chat-room users not to include personal details after a poster was tracked down.
POLICE warned internet users to protect their real identities after a man was convicted yesterday of Britain?s first ?web rage? attack.
Paul Gibbons, 47, of Bermondsey, southeast London, attacked John Jones with a pickaxe handle and knife, slitting his throat, after tracing Mr Jones to his house after an argument in an online chat room.
Gibbons pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to unlawful wounding yesterday in what police said was the first conviction of its kind. The court was told that Mr Jones, 43, had posted personal details about himself online and used his real name when participating in a Yahoo! chatroom dedicated to Islam, where he met Gibbons.
These details allowed Gibbons, who has a string of previous convictions for violence and weapons offences, to locate his victim?s home address in Clacton, Essex, using electoral records.
Gibbons, who used the username Pastordevil, argued about Muslims and the war on Iraq with Mr Jones through the chatroom. He then accused the father of three of being a paedophile, and told other chat room users of his plans for revenge.
Ibitayo Adebayo, for the prosecution, told the court: ?There were exchanges of views between the victim and the defendant, which were threatening on both sides. Certainly there was some hostility.?
The lawyer said that on Boxing Day last year Mr Jones asked Gibbons ?to attend a place near Tower Bridge in order to sort things out. The victim attended with his sister. The defendant did not.?
Gibbons, 47, then arrived at Mr Jones?s house on December 28 carrying a pickaxe handle, together with an unnamed accomplice armed with a machete.
?The victim was working on his computer,? Mr Adebayo continued. ?His two elder children were just outside playing. His wife was taking a bath and the youngest child was asleep.
?The victim heard his name being shouted out outside and he heard a knock on the door.?
Mr Jones opened the front door carrying a knife for protection, but was soon pushed to the floor. ?There was a scuffle on the landing between this defendant and the victim. The victim ended up on the floor and was beaten with the pickaxe handle,? Mr Adebayo said.
Mr Jones tried to protect himself with the knife, but Gibbons managed to take it from him and then attacked Mr Jones with his own blade.
During the assault, Mr Jones?s throat was cut from his Adam?s apple to his ear, narrowly missing the jugular vein.
Mr Adebayo said that Gibbons told him: ?Jones, if you carry on, I will f***ing kill you.?
It appears Gibbons already had form for violent offences:
Hours after the assault, Gibbons, who also used the user names Exudes, Devilishness and Pastordevil-tard-killer, logged on again and told Angie: ?I had his knife at his throat. He was screaming in fear. He never stood a chance. Jones was freaked.? He later added: ?It went perfectly to plan.?
After his guilty plea, Gibbons was remanded in custody by Judge Richard Hawkins, QC, to be sentenced on November 7. He has previous convictions dating from 1975, including for assault and carrying weapons.
I wonder if Gibbon has any relationship to Redwatch and/or the BNP? I would not be at all surprised if so.
Read more: UK politics, Internet, Chat, Political Violence, Stalkers, Online anonymity, Islamophobia
