Rachel is, I expect, pretty snowed under at the moment, so I’ll break the news…

Cyber-stalker Felicity Lowde Awarded Six-Month Jail Sentence For Terrorizing Rachel North

June 28, 2007 10:36 a.m. EST

Susheela Hegde - AHN News Writer

London, England (AHN) - A cyber-stalker has been handed down six-month sentence for harassing a 7/7 bombing survivor through a web-log and e-mails.

Felicity Jane Lowde, a researcher in Oxford University posted hundreds of messages targeting Rachel North who survived the tragic Russell Square Piccadilly Line bombing which left 26 people dead in 2005.

Judge Malcolm Read said by carrying out a “vicious, vitriolic and vindictive” campaign by posting hundreds of messages accusing Ms North with “making a living on the backs of the dead”, Ms Lowde repeatedly struck at the victim’s terrible traumatic experience.

North, 39, who has been fighting for an independent inquiry into the 7/7 incident, said she is happy over the verdict.

However, Lowde, who has been also given a restraining order and a five-year Asbo, said she intends to go for an appeal.

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Couple of points of note - the reference to Lowde being ‘a researcher at Oxford University’ is unverified and at least in part, inaccurate.

She certainly claimed to be a researcher on her blog, on numerous occasions, but was known to be unemployed for some considerable time prior to her arrest. As for her university background, she attended Oxford Brookes University, which was formerly Oxford Polytechnic and NOT Oxford University.

While a student at Oxford Brookes, she was tried (and cleared) on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to alleged attempt to hire a private investigator to carry out a ’sting’ on a former boyfriend in an effort to intimidate him into dropping harassment charges against her.

She was, however, convicted of harassing her ex-boyfriend and served three months in prison.

As regards her expressed intention to appeal, the law in Engalnd and Wales does not provide for an automatic right of appeal.

Lowde is entitled to apply for leave to appeal and, if she does, will attend a hearing at which she will be required to show that there a valid grounds for an appeal. Only if the court is satisfied that her stated grounds stack up will an appeal hearing be granted.

Regarding the contents of the restraining order and ASBO: -

a) the restraining order will apply specifically to Rachel, her husband and, possibly, other members of her immediate family - it is entirely up to Rachel whether or not she provides any more information on that subject.

b) as for the ASBO, if I can ascertain whether any of its terms that may be of specific relevance to bloggers and other online users, i.e. whether Lowde is subject any restrictions on her use of the internet,  then I will endeavour to publish that information so that bloggers are aware of what actions may be open to them should she resurface and breach those restrictions.

This just in from the Lib Dems on the upcoming by-elections in Ealing Southall and Sedgefield:

Labour are scared of the Liberal Democrat challenge.

Really? What were the figures for Lib Dem support in the last couple of opinion polls? 15% or so?

In recent years they lost Brent East, Leicester South and Dunfermline to us.

That was then, this is now and you’re deep in the shit in the current polls…

They have called the Ealing Southall and Sedgefield by-elections at very short notice to try to stop us building momentum.

Given the way things have going of late, their best chance of ‘building momentum’ would be to put their campaign team in a shopping trolley and push the fuckers down a hill - just make sure there’s a canal at the bottom.

Ealing Southall has the second largest Asian community in the country.

Right… so the Tories have picked the son of the owner of a local Asian radio station, Tony Lit, who, its been alleged in the comments at Iain Dale’s, may have only just joined the Tory Party specifically to run in this seat - his father stood in 2001 as a independent.

It’s been reported in discussions about the possibility of Labour using an all women shortlist for selecting the candidate for this seat that Khabra wished the candidacy to go to an Asian woman candidate on his death/retirement.

And now the Lib Dems are making a big deal out the size of the local Asian community, which I’d guess puts them down for a South Asian candidate as well.

Stepping back from the general issue of ethnic minority representation, is anyone else feeling just a little queasy at the blatant, obvious and very naked play on communal politics that’s starting to play out around this seat?

We came second here in the General Election and must aim to repeat the successful campaign that won Brent East for Sarah Teather.

That”ll be the usual ‘Winning Here’ and ‘Only we can win’ leaflets in use, complete with the obligatory dodgy bar graphs.

Khabra’s majority in 2005 was about 11,500, on a swing of 6.6% to the Lib Dems, whose vote went up from around 4,700 to 11,500, but on its own that doesn’t tell the real story.

Khabra polled 22,200 votes or so in 2001 and  22,900 votes in 2005, while the entire ’swing’ to opposition parties came from the absence in 2005 of four independent Asian candidates (including Avtar Lit) and an Asian candidate who ran as ‘Socialist Labour’ from the previous election.

But we have to try and do it three weeks - not the three months that we had for that campaign.

Boo-fucking-Hoo!

Sedgefield is next door to Hartlepool where Liberal Democrats came close to seizing Peter Mandelson’s former constituency in the 2004 by-election.

Fuck me, that’s getting pretty thin.

At the last general election, Labour held Hartlepool with a 9,500 majority against a Lib Dem vote of 10,500 a big chunk of which came by way of a 6.5% swing from the Tories.

As for Sedgefield, the Maximum Tone had an 18,500 majority running against a field of 14 other candidates, including Reg Keys.

Our MPs have cancelled their regular parliamentary meetings in order to free up time for the campaigns. Many other party meetings are being cancelled in order to allow party members to come and help the campaigns.

Does that include the guy who concocts the dodgy bar graphs, do you think?

Still you have to give them credit for their optimism - its dumb as fuck, but at least its optimistic.

Via Iain Dale, it would appear that the Tories are keeping it in the family in their choice of candidate for the upcoming Ealing Southall by-election.

The Conservatives have now chosen their candidate for the Ealing Southall by election this lunchtime. He is Tony Lit, MD of Sunrise Radio. He will be in Ealing this afternoon campaigning with David Cameron. I also have news of a new website being launched relating to by-election campaigning. More on that later.

Tony Lit is the son of the owner and chairman of Sunrise Radio, Dr Avtar Lit, who stood (unsuccessfully) for election in the same constituency in 2001.

One dearly hope that Tony has a better understand of broadcasting regulations than his father, whose radio station was fined £10,000 after the election, by the Radio Authority (which is now part of Ofcom), after it was found to have breached regulations covering political content on local radio by broadcasting an interview with Dr Avtar Lit in advance of his candidacy.

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11 June 2001

Radio Authority fines Sunrise Radio £10,000

Sunrise Radio, London’s Asian news and entertainment station, has been fined £10,000 by the Radio Authority for a breach of the Broadcasting Act 1990. The breach concerned an interview given by the owner of Sunrise Radio, Dr. Avtar Lit, in advance of his proposed candidacy in the General Election. Such expressions of opinion on politically controversial matters by providers of Independent Local Radio services are specifically prohibited by law.

On 20 March, Sunrise Radio twice carried extracts from an interview with Dr. Lit. One concerned Dr. Lit’s views about the political dissatisfaction of people living in Ealing, Southall, and the other outlined his policy proposals for this constituency. Members decided at their meeting on 6 June that the interview breached Section 90(2)(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1990.

Richard Hooper, Chair of the Authority, said:

“Those who hold radio licences should be in no doubt that they may not use that privileged position to publicise their own views on political matters. The Broadcasting Act and our Codes make it clear that this applies at all times, not just during elections.”

When making this decision, Members took into account Sunrise Radio’s admission of error and the absence of further breaches. However, they also voiced concern about the implication of this breach for compliance issues at Sunrise Radio. The Authority has therefore asked Sunrise Radio for assurances that suitable action will be undertaken to ensure future compliance with the Broadcasting Act and its Codes.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The Broadcasting Act 1990 (Section 90(2)(b)) requires “that… there are excluded from … programmes all expressions of the views and opinions of the person providing the service on matters (other than sound broadcasting) which are of political or industrial controversy or relate to current public policy.”

2. If a commercial radio station is found to be in breach of its licence, the Radio Authority can impose a number of sanctions. It can require a broadcast apology or correction, issue a formal warning, or impose a penalty which can include a fine or the shortening or revocation of a licence.

3. Financial penalties are not kept by the Radio Authority but are passed to the Treasury’s Consolidated Funds.

4. The Radio Authority is responsible for licensing and regulating Independent Radio in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996. It plans frequencies, awards licences, regulates programming and advertising, and plays an active role in the discussion and formulation of policies which affect the Independent Radio industry and its listeners.

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No doubt Tony will be most assiduous in ensuring that Sunrise Radio do not repeat the sins of his father, however I’m sure he’ll also understand if, as a party, or members in the area are just that bit more watchful than usual.