Woman pleads guilty after aggressively farting at her boyfriend’s ex
A young woman has pleaded guilty to harassment in the UK’s first ‘cyber-farting’ case after bombarding her boyfriend’s ex with videos of her breaking wind.
Rhiannon Evans, 25, appeared at magistrates court in Cearnarfon, North Wales and was accused of causing Deborah Prytherch ‘distress and anxiety’ by sending her ‘inappropriate’ videos of her farting.
Prosecutor Diane Williams told magistrates that in the first video ‘she proceeds to pass gas by placing the camera on her bottom and passing the gas.’
Evans sent three videos of her letting rip on December 22, followed by another four of the same nature of the next few days.
Each video showed ‘Miss Evans passing wind, her face smiling at the camera,’ the court heard.
Her tooting continued on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, despite police getting wind of what had happened.
In a victim statement read to the court, Ms Prytherch said she ‘would like to feel safe in my home’.
Evans was later arrested at her home and admitted she had sent the videos. The prosecutor said ‘she wanted to send videos because she felt her partner was being treated unfairly’.
Mrs Williams added: ‘It was purely malicious. She was smirking throughout, found it hilarious but the victim didn’t.’
The case is believed to be the first instance of legal action against ‘cyber-farting’ in the UK.
Harriet Gorst, defending, said: ‘There are some issues going on between Miss Evans’s partner and his ex-partner with regard to child contact.’
She added: ‘At the time she sent these videos she had some drinks and she sent them, understanding now this has caused the victim some distress. She sent them without malicious intent.’
Evans was said to have mental health problems.
The magistrates imposed 15 rehabilitation sessions, 60 days alcohol abstinence monitoring and a two-year restraining order.
Evans was ordered to pay £100 compensation and £199 costs to the victim, and was banned from contacting her.
A probation officer said she had been in a relationship for two years and there was ‘bad blood’ with her boyfriend’s ex-partner. She hadn’t thought sending the videos was a criminal offence and the defendant questioned why she hadn’t been ‘blocked’ by the victim prior to appearing in court.