In 2014, Michelle Chapman, a 24-year-old woman from Cornwall, became the first person in UK history to be jailed for trolling herself. She received a 20-month prison sentence for an elaborate scheme that involved creating fake Facebook profiles and sending herself hundreds of abusive messages over the course of a year.

The case sounds bizarre on its surface—why would someone cyberbully themselves? But Chapman's motivation was darker: revenge.

A Twisted Revenge Plot

Chapman had been estranged from her father, Roy Jackson, for 21 years. When she attempted to reunite with him, things didn't go well. She fell out with both her father and his new wife, Louise Steen. That's when she decided to make their lives hell.

She created fake Facebook accounts in the names of her father and stepmother, then used those accounts to send herself sexually explicit and abusive messages. Between February 2011 and March 2012, she filed eight separate complaints with Cornwall police, playing the victim of online harassment.

Innocent People Arrested

The consequences for Chapman's real victims were severe:

Her stepmother Louise was arrested and interrogated by police
Two other family members—Angela Steen and Elaine Abrams—were given official police cautions
Her father's marriage to Louise ultimately fell apart
The family endured over a year of suspicion and legal trouble

Chapman's performance was convincing enough that police took her complaints seriously, investigating and even arresting innocent people based on her false accusations.

How She Got Caught

Technology was Chapman's downfall. Forensic web researchers traced the fake Facebook profiles back to Chapman's own IP address. The accounts had been created from her home, and she had been logged into them from her devices.

This wasn't even Chapman's first rodeo—she'd been cautioned for a similar offense in 2009. But this time, the courts weren't letting her off with a warning.

Judge Harvey Clark didn't mince words during sentencing: "People have suffered a great deal of distress as a result of your wicked behaviour." In addition to the 20-month jail sentence, Chapman had her computer confiscated and was slapped with a restraining order.

The First of Its Kind

Chapman's case set a precedent. While people had been prosecuted for cyberbullying others, this was the first UK conviction for someone trolling themselves to frame innocent people. It highlighted a new kind of digital deception that law enforcement and courts were only beginning to understand.

The case also exposed how social media had created novel ways to weaponize victimhood. Chapman didn't just hurt the people she was angry at—she manipulated law enforcement resources and undermined trust in legitimate harassment complaints.

It's a cautionary tale about how far some people will go for revenge, and how the digital trails we leave behind can ultimately expose even the most calculated lies. Chapman wanted to make her father's life hell, but she ended up creating her own prison—literally.

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