Following a trial at Winchester Crown Court in November, Matthew Cooper-Collyer, 23, of Monkton Green, Monkton Deverill, was found guilty of threatening to disclose private sexual photos with the intent to cause distress.
Linda Collyer, 41, of the same address, had previously pleaded guilty to this offence as well as a second count of malicious communications.
Both appeared in Winchester Crown Court yesterday (19/1) and were sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 18 months, as well as four year restraining orders.
The photos and videos were taken of the victim without her knowledge during her relationship with Cooper-Collyer, but when it ended, Cooper-Collyer shared them with his mother, who passed them on to the victim’s father. She then sent abusive and threatening voice notes and Facebook messages to the victim’s parents, specifically her mother. Furthermore, the images and some abusive messages were shared with colleagues and college friends.
The victim described the enormity of her ordeal in a victim impact statement provided to the court, telling the defendant, “My life has changed massively and breaking up with you was for the better.”
“My life was not in my hands, and I didn’t feel in control,” she added.
“I will never get over this – this is the most soul destroying thing I have been through and I was only 19 at the time.
“It has consumed my life for the past three years, and I have been unable to move on.”
The actions of both Cooper-Collyer and his mother caused understandably significant amounts of stress to the victim and her family,” said Det Sgt Jonathan Davies-Bateman. Linda’s voice notes were particularly heinous in nature.
“The victim and her parents have suffered stress and damage to their mental health as a consequence, which has had a negative impact on both their private and professional lives.
“Given this was the first report the victim had ever had to make to police, I want to highlight the dignity and courage she and her family have maintained through this extremely distressing time for them, despite the behaviour of Cooper-Collyer and his mother.
I would encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this type of crime to contact police and report their concerns so we can thoroughly investigate.
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