Woman who posed as man on Grindr jailed for 'disturbing' campaign

A French woman who posed as a man on Grindr and shared sexually explicit photos and videos with the family, friends and colleagues of a victim she met on the gay dating app has been jailed.

Yannick Glaudin stalked the man and his then boyfriend during a "disturbing campaign of harassment" against them, using fake identities to send the intimate images without being traced.

The 31-year-old contacted police on several occasions over false claims of assault and paedophilia against the man, while friends were warned he had a bounty on his head.

Inner London Crown Court heard how she had first met the man on Grindr in May 2017, using a pseudonym.

Posing as a man named Steven St Pier, Glaudin was able to exchange phone numbers and email addresses with her unsuspecting victim - and was even sent his CV as he was job hunting at the time.

He eventually ended their online-only contact in December that year after growing suspicious, but only after he had already sent intimate personal pictures and videos.

After ceasing contact, Glaudin - who worked in the construction industry and as a chef - began sending the sexual content to his stepfather and friends.

When her victim began a relationship with another man in February 2018, she began contacting the now ex-boyfriend's friends with false allegations against him.

She used more pseudonyms including Harry Wars and Nick Guel to message his Facebook and Instagram contacts, before escalating her campaign by contacting Crimestoppers.

Prosecutor John McNamara told the court how she phoned the anonymous hotline in March 2018 to falsely claim that the boyfriend was "abusing a young boy and was linked to a known prostitute".

She later filed a fake crime report with police, pretending to be the boss of one of the unsuspecting boyfriend's victims, alleging that he had "videos of underage sex on a laptop".

Other messages sent suggested there was a €1,000 (£873) bounty on his head in Barcelona and London.

Glaudin, of Mile End in east London, also managed to arrange for several men "looking for sex" to turn up at the apartment her two victims shared after contacting someone using her first target's name.

Her crimes were finally brought to an end in the summer of 2018, and she pleaded guilty in July 2018 to all the charges brought against her, but the trial was delayed after she fled to France.

She finally was extradited in January after a European arrest warrant was issued.

Sentencing her to 13 months in prison on Monday, Judge Silas Reid said she had been "consumed by jealousy and a desire for revenge" after her initial victim had ended contact with her.

Defence lawyer Ricky Yau said Glaudin had accepted her crimes were "nasty, cruel and stupid", with the former boyfriend having told jurors how she made his life "hell on earth".

Glaudin, who has no previous convictions, was sentenced to 12 months for a charge of disclosing private sexual photos and films with intent to cause distress, four months for one count of harassment without violence, and four months for one count of stalking without fear, alarm or distress.

These will be served concurrently, with a further one month sentence for breaching bail to be served consecutively.

She is also subject to a lifelong restraining order preventing her from contacting her victims.