Find Cheating Ben!
Twitter hunt for teenage love rat overheard on train bragging about conquests
when she overheard a teenager on a train bragging about being unfaithful, emily Shepherd was outraged – and decided to expose him online.
The 23-year-old student used Twitter to warn the looselipped traveller’s girlfriend he was cheating on her.
But the post has now sparked a huge social media hunt for the love rat – known only as Ben – with even celebrities joining in.
‘If anyone has a boyfriend called Ben on the Bournemouth-Manchester train right now, he’s just told his friends he’s cheating on you. Dump his ass,’ she tweeted. But despite the support she has received, others claimed she had no respect for privacy and branded her tweet irresponsible. her post was discussed on ITV’s Loose women but she claimed the hosts made her appear a ‘snitch’.
Miss Shepherd, a journalism student at Bournemouth University, posted the tweet on Friday. It has since been retweeted 26,000 times as social media users demanded to know ‘cheating Ben’s’ full identity. Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden joined in, posting: ‘Dear cheating Ben... can you please make yourself known before all the non- cheating Bens find out where you live.’
Other users asked for descriptions of the love rat to rule out men called Ben that they knew were making the same journey. A number of messages were from girls trying to find out if the man in question was their boyfriend.
Miss Shepherd said Ben and a group of friends, all in their late teens, were drinking on the train when he admitted infidelity. She said: ‘One of his friends then asked, “but what about your girlfriend?” and he just responded “she doesn’t need to know” and the whole group burst out laughing.
‘It was disgusting, their behaviour and the way they were talking was really chauvinistic and disruptive.’ Miss Shepherd said she did not hesitate to tweet about it – but never envisaged the post going viral. ‘If that was my boyfriend and he cheated on me and bragged about it to his friends on a train, I would want to know too.’ The student said she has received ‘vile’ messages from trolls after her tweet was discussed on Loose women. hosts including Ruth Langsford debated whether it was right to ‘out’ a stranger. Miss Shepherd said: ‘I felt like the panel portrayed me as a snitch and Ben as the victim. who would’ve thought this train journey would have caused so much drama?’ Ben is described as having curly blond hair and was wearing a black puffer jacket. Do you know who Ben is? Email ben@dailymail.co.uk