Anonymous troll: ‘I’m ashamed of my behaviour’

Hayley* was 22 when she received a prison sentence for sending abusive Twitter messages.

She says: “I started trolling because I was insecure and took it out on someone else. I’d been drinking heavily when I sent abusive messages to a public figure using an anonymous account. I’d seen other people posting horrible things, so I thought it was OK to join the crowd. The next day I felt awful, but it was only a month later, when my Tweet was reported, that the reality of what I had done sunk in.

“Since coming out of jail I’ve also been trolled online – but I deserved it. I still have social media accounts, but I’m very careful about what I post. I’m truly sorry for what I did.”