Serial ‘catfish’, 20, who set up fake Tinder profile to lure victims into sending naked selfies then made vile death threats after she was exposed is locked up for four years
- Kirsten Wall lured victims into relationships with fake profiles on social media
- Wall, 20, from Manchester, set up a false Tinder account using the name Callum
- Her father discovered her catfishing when she was 13 and she had counselling
- She was handed her four years and two months in a Young Offenders Institution
Kirsten Wall, 20, pictured leaving Liverpool Crown Court, lured victims into relationships with fake profiles on social media. The process is known as catfishing
A serial ‘catfish’ who set up a fake Tinder profile to lure victims into sending naked selfies then made vile death threats when her deception was uncovered has been locked.
Kirsten Wall lured victims into relationships with fake profiles on social media – known as catfishing – and sending naked pictures.
The ‘social media addict’ pretended to be a friend or relative of the bogus personas, but turned ‘vindictive’ after she was rumbled.
Wall, 20, threatened to distribute the photos, warned of their murder by terrorists and had emergency services called to their homes.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Wall, formerly from Walton, set up a false Tinder account using the name Callum.
She contacted Woman A, a student in Liverpool, and exchanged sexually explicit images by using pictures of an unknown man.
After arranging to meet, Wall cancelled the get-together, said she was Callum’s pal and befriended the woman as herself.
Simon Duncan, prosecuting, said Wall also set up a Tinder profile as a woman, Alisha, and exchanged sexual pictures with Man A.
‘Alisha’ suggested Man A meet Woman A and they formed a real life relationship, then realised Wall had catfished them both.
When confronted, Wall ‘flew into a rage’ and threatened to send intimate pictures and videos of them to their friends and family.
Kirsten Wall, 20, has been sentenced to four years and two months in a Young Offenders Institution, plus indefinite restraining orders against eight people
She also contacted Woman A’s parents when they were on holiday abroad, pretending to be Callum, saying she was suicidal.
Wall threatened to kill herself, but was arrested by police and accepted using false profiles to engineer the couple’s liaison.
Mr Duncan said: ‘She described herself as asexual, but said she derived sexual excitement from the arrangements.’
Judge Denis Watson, QC, said Wall was released on bail but used the website Just Eat in ‘deliberately spiteful’ ways.
She ordered a takeaway to Woman A’s home, accompanied by comments saying she was suicidal, so the restaurant contacted police.
Wall also ordered food for Woman A’s parents, saying their daughter’s life was in danger, and six police officers raided their home.
She threatened the dad: ‘Your daughter living in Liverpool is something you are going to regret. People are watching her every move.
‘You will be planning her funeral very soon and also will be planning your whole family’s. Your social medias are being watched.
‘Terrorists know where your son lives, where your wife works and what nursing home your mother is in.
‘Your daughter will be murdered soon. No police can protect your family.’
Wall’s father first discovered her catfishing when she was 13 and she received on-off counselling, but failed to attend psychiatrist appointments
Judge Watson said the dad recalled how this ‘sent a chill down his spine which he will never forget’.
Wall meanwhile contacted police and falsely claimed she was being threatened by Woman A, supported by texts she sent herself.
She bombarded Woman A on Tinder, Instagram and Snapchat with threats and sent one message saying ‘you are going to die’.
Wall repeatedly ordered food to Man A’s mum’s home, with messages saying he was holding his family hostage at knifepoint and would burn the house down.
Six police officers arrived to investigate on one occasion, causing the victim and his mum ‘untold distress, anxiety and worry’.
Wall’s father, Scott Wall, who tried to help his daughter with her ‘addiction to social media’, made her leave his home.
She moved in with her gran but then repeatedly ordered takeaways, accompanied by more sick messages, to his house.
Police and firefighters attended his property after she claimed to be holding a knife to her baby sister’s throat and to have petrol.
Wall turned her attention to a past catfishing victim, Woman B, who had felt sorry for her and befriended her, only to be harassed.
She sent her a takeaway and the victim felt sick when she realised it was from her old tormentor.
Wall also stalked another victim, Woman C, after exchanging intimate pictures with her via Callum, then pretending to be his half-sister.
She gave flowers and gifts purportedly from Callum, then when she blocked him, threatened he would kill himself in ’emotional blackmail’.
Wall launched a ‘campaign of intimidation’ after the woman blocked her, including attending her workplace in Southport and making a false complaint to her boss.
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Wall, from Manchester, admitted perverting the course of justice, stalking and eight counts of malicious communications.
She has a conditional caution for blackmail, after posing as a man to obtain sexual photos from a woman, then demanding cash not to publish them.
Wall also has convictions for harassment against this woman, malicious communications to a connected man, and for breaching orders.
Charlotte Kenny, defending, said Wall was not ‘inherently bad or inherently evil, but somebody who is very damaged’.
She said her parents separated, she was bullied at school, had ‘absolutely no self-esteem’ and found ‘sanctuary’ in false online personas.
Ms Kenny said: ‘She described social media as her only friend.
Unfortunately it has become her worst enemy.’
Wall’s father first discovered her catfishing when she was 13 and she received on-off counselling, but failed to attend psychiatrist appointments.
A psychologist described her ‘borderline personality disorder’, but she was assessed as ‘not acutely mentally unwell’ and uneligible for a hospital order.
Judge Watson said: ‘Your outward appearance is of someone who is meek and timid and vulnerable, but by your conduct you have shown yourself capable of vindictive, spiteful, scheming behaviour and you have recognised and exploited weak spots with some ruthlessness.’
He said her victims ‘will not forget you or your acts’, adding: ‘They will forever remember your name and what you have done.’
Wall burst into tears as the judge said: ‘It isn’t social media that is your own worst enemy – you are your own worst enemy.’
He handed her four years and two months in a Young Offenders Institution, plus indefinite restraining orders against eight people.
Judge Watson also imposed an indefinite Criminal Behaviour Order, preventing her from using false identities online.
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