Woman accused of 'trolling' McCanns found dead in hotel

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zwiebel

zwiebel

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63-year-old UK woman Brenda Leyland has been found dead in a Leicestershire hotel, days after she was confronted by a Sky news reporter over tweets directed at the parents of missing child Madelaine McCann. They were made under the handle @sweepyface.

Police had recently announced they were investigating tweeters and internet posters directing comments at Gerry and Kate McCann.

Brenda's son, who lives in San Diego, this morning posted a message on his Facebook saying, 'I love you mum'.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-29501646
 
WOW. I just saw her on CNN last night. weird.
 
Unmasking and death of a notorious British ‘Twitter troll’ sharpens focus on trial-by-Twitter (Washington Post)

The woman who called herself “Sweepyface,” caught outside her home in central England, looked alarmed as the cameras closed around her like a vise. On Twitter, she was known for effectively accusing an embattled United Kingdom couple of complicity in the 2007 disappearance of their 3-year-old daughter. Calling Gerry and Kate McCann the “worst of humankind,” she tweeted that they should “suffer” for the “rest of their miserable lives.”
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“Brenda kept very much to herself, but people were surprised when she was accused of trolling the McCanns,” one neighbor said. “… I’m sure no one would have expected her to do something like this. People didn’t condone what she is said to have done.”

On Twitter, the response wasn’t nearly so tempered. “I see the McCanns are responsible for another death!” one man wrote.
Click to expand...
 
I'm finding it difficult to uncover any evidence of her being a "troll," as opposed to a person expressing an opinion. The McCanns have said they aren't on any social media, and no one has suggested that she contacted them directly.
 
Perodicticus potto said:
I'm finding it difficult to uncover any evidence of her being a "troll," as opposed to a person expressing an opinion. The McCanns have said they aren't on any social media, and no one has suggested that she contacted them directly.
Click to expand...

She said horrible, despicable, nasty things.
 
Sky News ‘saddened’ over death of alleged McCann troll

"She was said to have left her home after the exchange last week. But no direct link can be made between the incident and her death, which officers said was not being treated as suspicious."
"Video footage of Leyland being confronted by Martin Brunt, Sky’s crime correspondent, about the allegations of trolling the McCanns is still available on Sky’s website and it is also on Sky’s Vine account."
Click to expand...
 
When I saw this story last night, I started digging and discovered that the majority of the most-public trolls are middle-aged/older women and men. They seem to be in their 50's and 60's. I assumed they would be young people with no direction in life sitting in their parent's basement. Boy was I wrong. One out of at least six of them who are named in the following articles appears young(ish).

http://ordinisrubricrucis.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/kate-mccann-gun-maniac-named-as-sheila-basher-of-cornwall-uk/

http://ordinisrubricrucis.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/stark-warning-to-kate-mccann-run-london-marathon-and-you-die/

http://ordinisrubricrucis.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/internet-troll-apologizes-to-mccann-family/

http://ordinisrubricrucis.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/top-internet-anti-mccann-family-troll-criticised-for-her-diplomas-in-hatred/

http://ordinisrubricrucis.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/same-facebook-group-another-death-threat-at-kate-mccann-from-entrenched-goncalo-amaral-supporter/
 
I'm seeing discrepancies between articles, some say she was tweeting, but others say she was texting the McCanns, which was it? B/c there is a huge difference.
 
This thread is not to argue the McCann case. Please keep this in minde when posting.
 
My understanding of the articles is that she was tweeting, NOT texting. She didn't have a high opinion of the McCann's, but she wasn't threatening them either, imo. (from reading her tweets). I am sickened by this... I do not understand what Martin Brunt/Sky were thinking when they ambushed her with cameras. Just heartbreaking.

All imo
 
Dymphna said:
My understanding of the articles is that she was tweeting, NOT texting. She didn't have a high opinion of the McCann's, but she wasn't threatening them either, imo. (from reading her tweets). I am sickened by this... I do not understand what Martin Brunt/Sky were thinking when they ambushed her with cameras. Just heartbreaking.

All imo
Click to expand...

That's what I understood, too. If she was just tweeting it, then it really is no different than posting here at websleuths saying the same sort of stuff. IMO If she had threatened the McCanns or texted them, I'd feel a lot different about it, but merely tweeting her opinion is no different than what many do here.
 
I guess this begs the question, how many of us here if "outed" for what we post here would commit suicide over it?
 
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