A court has ordered an east London sex therapist to pay out £75,000 over “cyberbullying” a rival.
Siobhain Crosbie, who charges up to £200 a session to treat “sexual dysfunction”, fell out with former friend Caroline Ley in December 2011 over business issues.
The High Court heard that Ms Crosbie led a “very serious and nasty” campaign of online harassment against Ms Ley, and was said to have called her a “cow”, “monkey” and a “devil”.
The court heard how Ms Ley studied and worked under Ms Crosbie at her practice, APS Psychotherapy and Counselling in South Woodford, east London, before leaving to set up her own business in nearby Buckhurst Hill.
After falling out with her former protégé, Ms Crosbie went on to accuse Ms Ley, 51, of stealing her clients by poaching them online.
She sued Ley at the High Court for nearly £2m, claiming she has been the victim of “cyber fraud”, saying Google entries for her business were being diverted to Ms Ley’s clinic instead.
Ms Ley had blamed “Google’s merged listing process” for the mix-up, potentially caused by the two women’s businesses at one time operating from the same address.
Mr Justice Julian Knowles dismissed Crosbie’s claim, and said she had engaged in a “relentless” abuse claim on Facebook.
“The campaign was clearly and deliberately targeted by the Defendant at the Claimant via Facebook. The foreseeable response to it was vicious and frightening,” he said.
“It was calculated to (and did) whip up hatred for the Claimant and to put her in fear for her safety.”
He ordered Crosbie to pay £75,000 in damages for defamation and harassment, and imposed an injunction that bans her from publishing further allegations.
