Fake Facebook Account Costs Man ?22k
A businessman whose personal details were ?laid bare? in fake libellous entries on social networking site Facebook has been awarded ?22,000 in damages today against a former friend who created the profile.
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Mathew Firsht, who is the MD of Applause Store Productions Ltd, sued old school fried, freelance cameraman Grant Raphael, for libel and misuse of private information.
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Deputy Judge Richard Parkes QC dismissed Raphael?s claims that the profile was created by ?mischievous party gate crashers at his flat?, and awarded ?15,000 for libel and ?2,000 for a breach of privacy.
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Mr Firsht’s company, which finds audiences for TV and radio shows and provides warm-up services for live audiences, including the evictions on Big Brother, was also awarded ?5,000 for libel.
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Mr Raphael of created a false personal profile, and a company profile called “Has Mathew Firsht lied to you?”, from a computer at the flat where Mr Raphael was living in London, in June last year.
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Mr Raphael claimed that “strangers” who attended an impromptu party at the address that day sneaked off to a spare bedroom and created the profiles on his PC.
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The profiles were on the site for 16 days until Mr Firsht’s brother spotted them and they were taken down by Facebook.
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The judge heard that the private information concerned Mr Firsht’s whereabouts, activities, birthday and relationship status and falsely indicated his sexual orientation and political views.
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It said that he was “Looking for: whatever I can get” in terms of relationships and was signed up to groups including Gay in the Wood…Borehamwood, and Gay Jews in London.
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Mr Firsht complained about allegations that he owed substantial sums of money which he had repeatedly avoided paying by lying, and that he and his company were not to be trusted in the financial conduct of their business and represented a serious credit risk.
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He accused Mr Raphael of bearing a grudge against him since they fell out in 2000 and of creating a false Facebook entry with the aim of causing him anxiety and embarrassment.
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