A paedophile hunter urged his half a million online followers to target a journalist who feared she would be attacked at her home.
Kieren Ashby, better known as Stinson Hunter, had been the subject of a Netflix documentary about his efforts to track down child sexual predators.
He struck up a relationship with a national newspaper journalist who saw him as a source of stories.
But when personal details relating to Ashby were published online, he blamed the journalist and publicly accused her of backing paedophiles.
This and several Facebook videos led to hate-filled messages and threats from Ashby’s supporters.
Ashby, 43, narrowly avoided a prison sentence when he appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
He admitted conducting a stalking campaign that caused the west of Scotland-based journalist fear and alarm in January 2023.
Sheriff Louise Gallacher placed Ashby, of Dunfermline, under social work supervision for 12 months and said he must attend mental health services as directed. He is confined to his home between 7pm and 7am each day under an eight-month electronic tagging order.
The sheriff also imposed a non-harassment order, banning Ashby from any contact with the journalist for five years. She told Ashby: “A psychiatric report refers to significant adverse trauma you have had in the past. There was no offending for 13 years before this, there has been nothing since and you have shown remorse.
“I’m satisfied there is an alternative to custody available.”
Ashby hit the headlines when the victim of a paedophile sting took his own life after being questioned by the police in 2013.
Ashby, then living in Warwickshire, had posed as a child online and arranged to meet a 45-year-old man before confronting and filming him.
His methods were criticised by the police but he also received huge exposure through the Netflix production The Paedophile Hunter.
The court heard of the significant effect the harassment has had on the journalist’s life.
She changed her car in a bid to avoid being identified and closed her social media account, losing work contacts as a result.
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