UK’s worst catfish jailed after driving father and daughter to take own lives

Published

2 weeks ago

October 25, 2024

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An online predator who led an American girl and her father to take their own lives has been jailed for at least 20 years after the UK’s largest “catfishing” case.

Warning: This article contains references to suicide and child sex abuse which readers may find distressing.

Alexander McCartney, 26, previously admitted 185 charges, including the manslaughter of a girl who took her own life.

Police called him a “dangerous, relentless, cruel paedophile” who “may as well have pulled the trigger himself” and said there were about 3,500 victims.

Devices seized from his bedroom contained hundreds of thousands of indecent photographs and videos of underage girls.

Belfast Crown Court heard victims were aged between 10 and 16 and based in the UK, USA, continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

McCartney, from south Armagh in Northern Ireland, used Snapchat and other sites to pose as someone else online, known as catfishing.

He pretended to be a young girl to persuade his victims to send images. He then blackmailed them into sending more explicit material.

Cimarron Thomas, 12, from West Virginia, shot herself with her father’s gun instead of complying with his demands after he gave her an online countdown.

But there were more tragic repercussions.

Unable to live with the loss, her father Ben Thomas, a former US Army veteran, died by suicide 18 months later.

Former computer science student McCartney pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter, 59 of blackmail, and 70 of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

At his sentencing, the judge said his offending began at the age of 14.

‘Utterly remorseless’

McCartney admitted dozens of charges related to making and distribution of indecent images of children and appeared “utterly remorseless”, said barrister David McDowell KC.

The prosecution said he deliberately targeted victims who were either gay or exploring their sexuality and “degraded and humiliated them”.

What is catfishing?

It’s when someone uses photos or personal information, stolen from others or made up, in order to create a fake identity.

They typically use this to trick others into some kind of online relationship.

It’s often associated with dating sites (using a photo of someone more attractive or successful) – but can also be used to pretend to be a business, for example, to con people out of money.

There are also cases of people catfishing to convince others to send explicit images. The targets are sometimes then blackmailed, bullied, or sexually abused.

When someone only fakes fairly insignificant elements of their identity, it’s referred to as ‘kitten fishing’.

Catfishing is not illegal in the UK.

The judge called the details “excruciating” and much of what he did is too graphic and disturbing to detail.

McCartney told one girl he would send people to rape her if she didn’t comply. In some instances, he demanded his victims involve younger siblings, or even family pets and objects.

One girl repeatedly said she would kill herself and that her mother was dying from cancer.

“I do not give a shit about you or your mum,” McCartney replied.

Girl shot herself after McCartney countdown

In May 2018 and posing as ‘Sarah’, he messaged Cimarron Thomas at her family’s farmhouse in the tiny US village of Bruceton and persuaded her to send a topless photograph.

When McCartney revealed he wasn’t Sarah, he demanded more explicit pictures and threatened to send them to her father.

When she pleaded for him to stop, he told her to “dry her eyes” and involve her nine-year-old sister in sexually explicit material via webcam.

Belfast Crown Court heard that a police officer who reviewed the material said Cimarron was “utterly distraught and sobbing”.

The court also heard McCartney “counted down” online from 20 to zero as he insisted on more pictures.

Cimarron refused and shot herself.

McCartney’s cynical last message read: “Goodbye and good luck.”

Father couldn’t forgive himself

Cimarron’s younger sister heard what she thought was a balloon popping but found her lying on her parents’ bedroom floor. She died in hospital later that night.

Her father Ben couldn’t forgive himself for leaving his handgun within reach and took his own life 18 months later.

A statement read in court from his wife, Stephanie, said he felt guilty about his daughter’s death and “lost interest in life”.

Cimarron’s family couldn’t understand why she killed herself until three years later when police found the online chat on McCartney’s computer.

In a statement, Cimarron’s grandparents said: “We all have been devastated by our granddaughter’s passing.

“We know that nothing that we do or say will bring her back. But if we can help another family to not have to go through what we did, something good could come out of her death.

“Parents, please keep the doors of communication open concerning the evil of some people online.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Corrigan, from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said McCartney’s sentence was a “warning to those operating online and hiding behind fake accounts and firewalls – you will be caught and you will face the full force of the law when you are”.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

World

Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

Published

4 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

A man described by not one but two of his closest former aides as a fascist will become the most powerful man in the world when he takes office. How worried should we be?

Very, say another dozen White House staffers who served under Donald Trump and watched him in action for his first four years in power.

In a second term, they are warning that those who once tried to prevent him from acting on his worst impulses will no longer be there to rein him in.

Follow latest: Trump wins US election – as world leaders congratulate him

“The grown ups”, as they were called in Mr Trump’s first administration, will have gone, replaced by people more aligned with his agenda and pushing their own.

What is that agenda and what is to come? That is harder to say. We have learned not to take Donald J Trump literally – his empty promises, lies, and false threats come thick and fast.

The first time round, many of his promises came to nothing; to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it, to bring peace to the Middle East, to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and Iran’s too.

But we can say what is likely; trade wars with China, Mexico, and Canada seem probable.

The extent of the tariffs Mr Trump imposes are harder to predict but the impact on the global economy will most likely be considerable.

He could rip up more treaties the US has signed, including climate commitments made by his predecessors.

Mr Trump is likely to undo much of the Biden administration’s work to reverse climate change and the negative impact on the planet may be substantial.

And he is likely to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war largely on Moscow’s terms if his words and those of his team are anything to go by.

His running mate JD Vance says Russia will keep the land it has taken and receive a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality. Putin could not have hoped for more.

Those hoping for an end to the war in Gaza may be disappointed too.

Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are close allies.

He is likely to give the Israelis plenty of latitude when it comes to the conflict. And there are fears he would not restrain Israel in any future confrontations with Iran unlike the Biden administration, with all the risks of a wider Middle Eastern war that might ensue.

NATO’s uncertain future

Trump’s impact on NATO is harder to predict. His team has floated various plans for the alliance. They all arguably weaken America’s support for it.

Without America’s cast-iron guarantee, will other countries seek their own security arrangements? It seems likely.

One of the great pillars of the post-world war order will have been weakened. But Mr Trump in his first term showed contempt for all its multi-lateral, multinational organisations.

America swings through cycles of isolationism, retreating from the world, then having to re-engage at huge cost to protect its interests.

Mr Trump may prove unwilling to learn the lessons of that history.

Those who regard America, for all its faults, as a positive influence in the world, an example to follow, will be most worried and disheartened.

A demagogic populist, regarded as a fascist by some of those who know him best and who openly admires authoritarians and dictators, will be taking up the reins of power again in the world’s most powerful democracy.

Half of American voters have opted for a man who refused to accept election defeat four years ago, used lies and dirty tricks to try and undermine its result, and stood by while an angry mob ransacked the citadel of American government.

All of that will only embolden other strongmen the world over and damage, perhaps beyond repair, the democracy that Americans have long believed stands as an example for all the world to follow.

World

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

Published

4 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

Ireland’s prime minister has announced the planned date for a general election to be held this month.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes the election will take place on 29 November, formally kicking off a truncated campaign which will last mere weeks.

Mr Harris, 38, was appointed Irish prime minister – the youngest in the country’s history – after Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.

He will travel to Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the official residence of the Irish president, to seek the dissolution of Ireland’s Dail parliament.

Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “As I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it’s my hope that we will have polling day on this country on November 29.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and asking the people of Ireland for a mandate.”

There’s a clear reason why this election has been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Its leader Mary Lou McDonald – once seen as Ireland’s first female taoiseach in waiting – has been battling a serious decline in support for a year, and is bogged down in firefighting a damaging series of internal party scandals, north and south of the border.

Why wait until next March for an election?

You can read Stephen Murphy’s full analysis here

After refusing to be drawn on the election date for weeks, Mr Harris made the announcement less than an hour after his coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Micheal Martin revealed that the election would be called on Friday.

Mr Harris could have waited until March when the coalition’s five-year term comes to an end to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for an election in recent weeks, announcing 10.5bn euros (£8.75bn) in tax cuts and spending increases last month.

The election will bring to an end the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who had been rivals dating back to the civil war.

It saw Mr Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, taking the taoiseach role for the first half of the lifetime of the government, later replaced by then-Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.

The last election was seen as a monumentally successful performance for Sinn Fein, which had the highest percentage of first-preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.

World

Ireland’s election was a badly-kept secret – and there’s a clear reason why it’s been called

Published

4 hours ago

November 6, 2024

admin

Ireland's election was a badly-kept secret - and there's a clear reason why it's been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Why wait until next March for an election? Going now ensures the voters will be getting the first benefits of the recent bumper €10.5bn (£9bn) giveaway budget (“buying votes” according to the opposition) as the polling cards arrive.

Going the parliamentary distance risks the current government buoyancy being sunk by events. A week is a long time in politics, four months an eternity. Why take the risk?

This election will largely be fought on the same issues as 2020. Four years of this coalition government has done nothing to convince voters that Ireland’s chronic housing problem is healing. Homelessness has hit a record high of 14,500.

The health system still creaks and groans under pressure, despite huge investment.

Immigration may be a new factor; concerns over a surge in asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland mean the topic could be a key issue for the first time in an election here.

A chunky budget surplus, full employment, tax cuts and benefit hikes – what Sir Keir Starmer wouldn’t give to be in Simon Harris’s shoes.

But for many citizens, Ireland is a rich country that often feels like a poor country. So the saying goes, at least.

Success for the government parties in this election will rely on reminding the voters of the first part of that truism and glossing over the latter part.

Extra pre-Christmas cash for punters, a hamstrung opposition and that new leader bounce all help greatly – Mr Harris kicks off this campaign in a strong position to be returned as Ireland’s prime minister.

It’s the government’s election to lose.