Gwent police, the BBC and Wales Online have really, really fucked up
Earlier this week we gave a summary of the case of Jenni Swayne: A disabled woman who was arrested, held in a cell for several hours while her home was searched, her phone and other items seized, and then released at 3.30am all because, allegedly, a disordered male with a history of lying about sharp objects in posters had claimed that she had put glass and pins behind feminist stickers.
Since then more people have been going through that man’s (Layla Stokes) online activity, and the results are not looking good for Gwent Police.
Layla, who claims the police ‘like my stuff’, publicly revealed just a few weeks ago that an ex partner of his had accused him of rape.
He said the allegation might be true but if it is, he is innocent, because it was his ‘headmate’ who did it, not him.
He added that this was not the first time this had happened, and the last time the victim ‘died of old age before I could apologise’.
And he said one of the most upsetting parts of this rape allegation was that it meant that the stickers he sells, some of which explicitly threaten women, might be defaced.
Now that these tweets have come to light, Layla has deleted them all, and said his admitting that he might have raped at least one person is ‘being used against me’.
In fact, he’s even contacted Gwent Police about it to say he doesn’t feel safe.
That’s the same police force that has just been given extra funding to tackle violence against women and girls.
And remember, these are the types of stickers Layla was posting.
Meanwhile, the Twitter account that revealed Layla’s history has of course been suspended.
It has also been revealed that Layla has an accomplice - another man who says he identifies as a woman - who has been in Newport recently: Katie.
There are numerous allegations online about Katie to which he continually draws attention. His entire timeline in the last few days is him sharing posts of people accusing him of being a paedophile.
One reason appears to be his following children’s accounts on YouTube and sending them hugs and kisses.
The rape allegations against ‘Layla’ may be a figment of his imagination—he’s obviously a fantasist to some degree— but whether they’re true or not, he’s clearly a disturbed young man. Meanwhile his friend, ‘Katie’ regularly highlights the fact that some perceive him as a threat to children while following 11-year-olds on YouTube.
These are the people Gwent police chose to believe when they arrested Jenni, held her until the early hours and seized books from her house. These are the people who made absurd, disgusting claims about feminists which were uncritically echoed and amplified by Wales Online…
…and the BBC.
There is now a fundraiser for Jenni Swayne’s legal case. You can donate to it here.
You can also vote for her as an Inspirational Woman of Gwent here.
Meanwhile, Gwent police have, for some reason, sent Jenni’s phone to Leeds.
WTAF?! A middle aged disabled woman is stickering - let's go and arrest her (etc.). Meanwhile a clearly disturbed individual is admitting to the possibility of committing two rapes and the police react by asking him to send them a DM!!!!! You couldn't make this up!!!
The "razor blade behind the poster" trope is well-worn, and utterly nonsense. Think about it - you tear a poster you disagree with down from the corner. Plus most people who remove flyposters will be some poor minimum wage person, not the object of your ire.
But it's very easy to accuse your enemies of doing it and faking the evidence. You don't need footage of someone doing it, just the piece of kit. Hence why it still has currency.
Finally - picture your typical mumsnetty "terf". Now picture your average studenty angryperson who got Kathleen Stock to leave. Hmm.