Preston man Daniel Newby jailed for posting fake nude pictures of woman online

Daniel Newby, 44, of St John’s Drive, Whittingham, appeared at Preston Crown Court last Friday (April 21) where he was given a 25 month prison sentence for an offence of stalking.

It relates to a campaign of harassment he carried out against a woman, aged in her 50s, between September 2016 and April 2019.

His relentless campaign of harassment included death threats, posting her personal information online and bombarding her daily with messages.

Preston Crown Court heard how Newby sent the woman approximately 1,200 messages on Twitter, including calling her ‘a junkie’, ‘thief’ and ‘scumbag’.

He also created a website where he posted pictures of the victim’s face photoshopped onto sexually explicit images, as well as personal details about her, including medical details.

In one website post, he cruelly claimed she had previously taken an overdose, saying: “She’s not very good at committing suicide, maybe we can club together and do it for her.”

Newby told police that he had carried out the harassment as he had previously had business dealings with the victim.

PC Adam Lake, of Preston Police, said: “This was a sustained and malicious campaign of harassment which Newby engaged in, knowing it would cause distress and worry for the victim.

“He posted extremely personal information about her online, including information that referred to past trauma.

“Clearly this is absolutely, unacceptable and we hope this shows that hiding behind a website or username online does not make you any less guilty of a crime.

“Newby has been sentenced to 25 months and we hope he uses this time to reflect on the consequences of his actions.”

‘A cold-hearted and callous stalker’

His victim, a woman from Ramsgate in Kent, was in Preston for the hearing and told the court how her tormentor’s relentless abuse had affected her life.

“Daniel Newby is a cold-hearted and callous stalker,” she told the court.

“Newby acted as part of a gang who tried to encourage me to end my own life and engaged in an obsessive and callous campaign of hate spanning a period of years.

“He created deep-fake sexual images of me engaged in a series of sex acts, he also created fake documents including fake newspaper articles.

“I would welcome a change to the law that anyone engaged in the making of such images charged with a sexual offence and consequently subjected to the restrictions of a sex offender.

“Newby illegally obtained two corporate domains which he controlled to abuse, stalk and share misinformation.

"His language was violent and degrading, he discussed how to cause me maximum harm in the hope that I would die by my own hand or incite others to harm me.”

The woman also thanked police and the courts for bringing Newby to justice.

She added: “I would like to thank the investigating officer PC Adam Lake. He always approached the investigation with integrity and kindness at all times.

"Without his understanding of the crime and what Daniel Newby was doing to me, I’m not sure that I would be here today to thank him.

“I would also like to thank prosecutor Francis McEntee, the witness care team and His Honour Judge Archer for his crystal-clear analysis of Newby’s criminal behaviour and subsequent sentencing.”