Friday, June 15, 2007

Defeating the Hydra*

It is with mixed feelings that we announce that all 7 of SSR's personalities (occupying the body of one Felicity Lowde) are currently behind bars awaiting sentence after being convicted of harassment last month. It's quite a story, and we don't have room for the entire thrilling tale, but we present you with the encapsulated version.

  • After a lengthy campaign of slander and harassment conducted on the Internet against a certain Rachel North (among others) which included the adoption of FJL's "SSR" persona and the establishment of the Hargoon log, Ms North pressed charges against Ms Lowde. This resulted in the arrest of the entire SSR entity, reflected in the "holiday" announced on the Hargoon log.
  • FJL was released on bail, with the condition that she cease communication with or about her victims online. At this point the SSR mask was abandoned and FJL continued her campaign under her own identity on her personal blog . Since this was a violation of her bail terms, she was rearrested, had her computer confiscated and was re-bailed with orders not to use the Internet at all. This injunction was broken within hours.
  • When the trial date came around, FJL was what our American friends call a "no-show". She was supposedly suffering from exhaustion, and had arrived at the Court, left a note to that effect and left. The trial went ahead without her and she was found guilty. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and FJL went into hiding to avoid sentencing.
  • While in hiding, FJL continued to post the standard "SSR"-style drivel, most of it directed at Ms North, but alternating with claims of persecution (i.e. her conviction) and vindication (through a new trial). Attacks against Ripperologists, her former accomplice Karen Trenouth, and a variety of other people continued to appear from time to time.
  • Finally after several weeks of living rough on the streets of Whitechapel (according to her own accounts), FJL was spotted at an Internet cafe in Brick Lane. The police were called and the erstwhile fugitive was apprehended. When she appeared in Court, FJL was remanded in custody until her late-June sentencing. It has been claimed that during that time FJL will undergo a much needed psychiatric evaluation.

You might be wondering why we didn't expose the FJL/SSR link long ago. While we alluded to it, and personally believed FJL and SSR to be one and the same, we didn't run across FJL's personal blog until shortly before SSR started their enforced sabbatical. Once we encountered the former's personal webspace--particularly after SSR-style ravings started to become the principle editorial content--the similarities were just to blatant to reach any other conclusion.

During the period when FJL's campaign shifted to her own blog, and her case worked it's way through the legal system, we decided to withhold all comment, out of a concern of interfering in a legal matter. We particularly did not wish out efforts to be attributed to Rachel North or other participants in the court case (since we are not connected to them in any way), nor did we wish to validate FJL's persecution fantasies. We honestly thought our job was done, but have recently been forced to reconsider for several reasons.

The first is that, while the author has been neutralized, her method of creating numerous blogs under a variety of usernames means that her venomous attacks are still out there.

The second is that a coterie of FJL's disciples have decided to pick up where their mentor left off. This is particularly true of former FJL accomplice/apprentice, now apostate, Karen Trenouth.

The final reason is our admittedly pessimistic opinion that FJL's stay at Her Majesty's pleasure will not rehabilitate her in the least. What we have is a respite, nothing more. Once Felicity is again on the loose, we fully expect her escapades to continue.

Watch this space.

*The Hydra was a nasty creature from Greek mythology that had seven heads growing out of a single body. Although not known to maintain a blog, the Hydra did spew poison with every breath.