Bernadette Spofforth, who last week had a case for sharing false information about the identity of the Southport stabbing suspect dropped, says her life has been “utterly destroyed” by the saga.
Spofforth was arrested at her Chester home in August on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications.
She joined Andrew Doyle on GB News to discuss how she has been treated by the authorities, claiming they sought to “make an example” of her.
“The cynical part of me would say that if you’re not protected by the badge of journalism and you’re just a normal person, but you have quite a large following, then you can be made an example of”, she said.
Bernadette Spofforth says the saga has 'utterly destroyed' her
GB NEWS
“I think I was made an example of. Five police people turned up. Three cars, a van. They came and they searched me.
“They dragged me off to the police station, they held me for 24 hours. They had my devices.
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“They could have easily downloaded what I’ve done. It was quite obvious. All the information was there, all the evidence was there, but they held me for another 12 hours still knowing they had nothing because I’m really honest on my devices.
“I hadn’t done anything, they put me on bail. Extraordinarily, my bail conditions were that I could not engage on social media at all, so I couldn’t tell anyone what had happened. I couldn’t defend myself or reply to the press.
“I was completely silenced.”
She added that her life has been “utterly destroyed” by the chilling affair which saw the police provide psychologists to speak to her.
Bernadette Spofforth joined Andrew Doyle on GB News
GB NEWS
“To help you not drive a bridge”, she remarked.
Spofforth said police had told her on 5 September she would “face no further action”.
But due to the conditions of her bail, the social media user had been unable to share the news until now.
Cheshire Police confirmed the case had been dropped due to “insufficient evidence”.
Spofforth issued a statement GB NEWSIn a statement posted online, Spofforth said “my crime was sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information”.
"As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true."
A Cheshire Police statement said: "A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge.
"The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday, 8 August following allegations in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders.
"Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence."
