I’ll rape your daughter, online troll told TV star

A WELL-KNOWN female television presenter received vile abuse online from a man who also threatened to rape her daughter, a court heard yesterday. Carl Davies, 43, is accused of stalking the household name online for a period of ten months to July last year.

He allegedly sent a death threat to the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and warned: ‘You won’t be living.’ He also highlighted her home address.

Davies later sent sexually threatening comments to a social media account belonging to the presenter, it is claimed, including one which said: ‘Your daughter will be raped.’

District Judge Gwyn Jones agreed to an application by the Crown to ban the media from naming the presenter, who claimed she was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety as a consequence of Davies’s alleged actions.

‘I am satisfied that it would be appropriate for me to make a restriction limiting the Press from disclosing the names of the two individuals,’ Judge Jones said.

He added that he had made his decision after balancing the rights of the Press to report against the ‘ anxiety and grief ’ of the victims involved in the case.

In a statement, the presenter told Llandudno magistrates’ court, North

Wales, that she was ‘living in a constant state of anxiety for her personal safety’.

She said it was not the first time she had received death threats and allowing her name to be published would risk copycat offences.

She said her daughter had been suffering panic attacks and that her own mental health would worsen should their names be placed in the public domain.

Ceri Ellis- Jones, prosecuting, said: ‘ Both victims feel intimidated and have indicated they are in fear of giving evidence [ should their] names be distributed to the Press and members of the public.

‘Given her role... she has concerns over reporting of the case and the effect it will have on her and her daughter. She feels strongly that the quality of her evidence would be diminished by widespread media coverage.’

Miss Ellis- Jones said that without reporting restrictions the presenter ‘won’t be able to coherently articulate her evidence and threats to the safety of her family.’

Davies, of Flint, North Wales, denies two counts of stalking and opted to have his case tried at Mold Crown Court next month.

He was granted bail on condition that he does not contact the presenter or her daughter, in person or online.