Thousands of offences of sending malicious communications online have been recorded in Bristol over the past few years. Figures show 10,397 crimes of “sending a message intended to cause distress or anxiety” were reported in Bristol between 2020 and 2024.
This takes it to a rate of 21.7 per 1,000 people. In comparison, nearby South Gloucestershire recorded 4,865 such crimes in that period and North Somerset saw 3,983. The news comes as former Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton denied a charge of sending malicious communications online.
Mr Barton, aged 41, pleaded not guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, August 27 to a charge of conveying an indecent or offensive message, for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety, between 3 and 8 January. The charge relates to posts on social media site X that were allegedly made from Mr Barton’s account about football pundit and former England international Eni Aluko.
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A three-day trial will now be held on May 19 next year. Home Office figures show that recorded crimes of malicious communications – sending an email, social media post, or any message that is grossly indecent or offensive, or intended to cause distress or anxiety – soared during the pandemic and lockdowns.
There were a record 289,000 offences in the year ending March 2022 but since then – as life has returned to normal – this type of crime has fallen. There were 275,000 offences in the year ending March 2023, and around 168,000 last year.
Over the last five years, more crimes of malicious communications – many posted online by so-called “keyboard warriors” and “internet trolls” – were recorded in Birmingham than anywhere else in the country (32,000) followed by Leeds (27,000), and Bradford (23,000). But when compared to the size of the population, this type of offending is far more likely to be recorded in Blackpool.
Over the last five years, there have been nearly 7,000 offences recorded in the seaside resort. That adds up to the equivalent of 48 crime reports for every 1,000 people living in Blackpool.
Next was Bradford (41 crime reports per 1,000 people), and then Wakefield (40) and Calderdale (39) – all areas of West Yorkshire. You can see how it compares to where you live using our interactive map.
When the Malicious Communications Act came into force in 1988, it aimed mainly at poison pen letters. But the legislation included a clause that made it also an offence to send “an electronic communication or article of any description”, which covers emails and abusive social media posts – a far more common method of sending hate mail in the 21st century.
It can be punished by a maximum sentence of up to a year in prison, a fine, or both. In recent weeks several people have been arrested and even jailed over comments made online during the violence and disorder that swept across the UK following the horrific murder of three children in Southport.
In the wake of the riots the director of public prosecutions of England and Wales said there were “dedicated police officers who are scouring social media” looking for offences and offenders.