ONLINE STALKER CREATED MORE THAN 17 FAKE ACCOUNTS TO SEND ABUSIVE MESSAGES CONTAINING RAPE AND TORTURE
Stalker Callum Blake-O'Brien used a series of fake social media accounts to bombard women with what prosecutors called "unimaginably horrendous" messages.One teenager, left "emotionally numb" by his harassment, said he deliberately "handpicked" victims to cause the greatest harm.
"When I read it, I felt really sick.
It was talking about rape and torture.
"I took a screenshot.
It was extremely long and in extremely graphic detail." Gemma not her real name told the BBC she received her first message in March 2017, while alone in her bedroom.
"I only read the first few lines; I couldn't read on and my parents read the rest of it.
"My mum said 'you should go to the police'.
I was freaked out." Seventeen at the time, Gemma initially wondered if it was "some kind of joke." But the anonymous account was quickly deactivated, leaving her with no clue who was behind it.
"By the time I read it, he had already created another account and started sending other disturbing messages.
"The messages included one telling me I should not be afraid of dark alleyways because he preferred the daylight." Soon the harassment escalated.
Messages referenced her father’s workplace and even her eye colour.
"I wrote back 'who is this?' and asked 'why are you doing this?'" Blake-O'Brien, from Hereford, responded with further abuse.
Her family went to West Mercia Police within days.
Despite bringing screenshots, Gemma felt her concerns were brushed aside.
"He told me the man was not a direct threat to me and that there was no chance of finding him because a proxy server was involved." The officer suggested deleting her Facebook account — something she was reluctant to do because of her part-time job.
"I felt I was being dismissed as a young girl who was being overdramatic." A second officer took weeks to file a Child Exploitation and Online Protection report, which should have been done immediately.
"The dismissal by the police made me feel even more isolated," Gemma, now 18, explained.
She temporarily deactivated her account several times and kept blocking new profiles, but Blake-O'Brien persisted.
"In all, he sent me about 75 to 100 messages from five different accounts.
"I became emotionally numb to the messages but the feeling he could hurt me never went away.
"I felt like I couldn't go out and became anxious — and I've never been anxious before." After a few weeks, the contact suddenly stopped.
April and May passed quietly, but in June it began again.
"I was on the phone to my friend when I got another message request in June.
I knew exactly what it was and who it was from.
I was devastated.
"It had given me a bit of false hope when it stopped between April and June and I thought he had finally got the message." This time, a female officer and a detective took her case seriously.
"I think she understood his power and how I was feeling." The investigation soon revealed another woman had reported similar abuse.
Within two weeks, Blake-O'Brien was arrested.
"When I found out he was arrested in Hereford I completely broke down.
It was the thought he could have walked past me multiple times," Gemma said.
Her shock deepened when police revealed the suspect’s identity — someone who had once known her brother.
"He had handpicked all of us; either he knew us or had come into contact with us." The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed Blake-O'Brien had targeted multiple women, some he knew personally and others he had only met in passing.
At Worcester Crown Court, the 25-year-old admitted offences against 10 women.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Seven charges related to stalking involving fear of violence, while three were for sending indecent or grossly offensive electronic communications.
He must also serve 15 months on licence and is under a 10-year restraining order preventing any contact with his victims.
Additionally, he is banned from using internet-enabled devices unless they can store and display his browsing history.
Although relieved at the outcome, Gemma remains critical of how her case was initially handled.
She wants Facebook to establish a helpdesk for reporting online abuse and believes police and lawyers lacked understanding of social media.
"[That] shouldn't be the case as these crimes will increase in the future.
"I'm a teenage girl and I couldn't enjoy that whole year of my life." Det Insp Ross Jones of West Mercia Police encouraged anyone dissatisfied with police handling to file a formal complaint.
He also commended the victims.
"Their bravery played a vital role in achieving this custodial sentence.
"Despite this, I know that victims of such crimes can experience long-lasting effects on their mental health and wellbeing.
"All of the people who reported Blake-O'Brien's offences to us have been offered specialist counselling to help them.
"West Mercia Police works hard to ensure all officers know how to deal with reports of offences like this, and will continue to do so."
