Re: LEYLAND INQUEST - SUICIDE VERDICT

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:04 pm

Oh yes, I forgot that vile troll. There are so many of them it's hard to keep up sometimes.

**Sabot** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:10 pm

For how long was she tweeting as Sweepyface? I'm pretty sure it was longer than the 10 months and 424 Tweets mentioned at The Inquest.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:11 pm

This is a long, detailed and useful report:

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Brenda-Leyland-inquest-McCann-Twitter-troll/story-26206590-detail/story.html

Brenda Leyland inquest: McCann 'Twitter troll' overdosed on helium after Sky News confrontation
By Yasmin_Duffin | Posted: March 20, 2015

An inquest into the death of 'Twitter troll' Brenda Leyland, who sent abusive messages to the family of Madeleine McCann, has found that she overdosed on helium days after she was confronted by a Sky News reporter about the tweets.

The full inquest into the death of Brenda Kathryn Gabrielle Leyland was held in Leicester's town hall today after she was found dead in a room at the Marriott Hotel, in Enderby, on October 4, 2014.

The 63-year-old, of Burton Overy was found in the room "lying on her back", next to an iPad and two helium cannisters.

Sergeant Kevin Taylor, who now works at Loughborough police station, but was based at Braunstone at the time, was the first officer on the scene and found Ms Leyland's body.

He told the inquest that on the iPad found in the room with Ms Leyland, a website was open, which detailed how somebody could take their life using helium.

Coroner Catherine Mason asked Sgt Taylor whether the scene in the bedroom "mirrored the instructions that could be seen on the iPad screen" to which Sgt Taylor replied: "Yes".

Sgt Taylor also confirmed he was "completely satisfied" that no third party was involved and it was "all planned by herself".

There was no suicide note found in the hotel room or Ms Leyland's home.

The inquest heard that Ms Leyland had been "researching how to take her own life" from September 30 until October 2 on her laptop and iPad.

Her death came after she had been "publicly exposed" by Sky News on September 30, when she was confronted by presenter Martin Brunt about the abusive tweets she had sent to Gerry and Kate McCann.

From November 13 until September 29, Ms Leyland posted or re-tweeted more than 400 tweets, using the Twitter handle @Sweepyface directly mentioning the McCanns.

Mr Brunt told how he and a cameraman waited outside Ms Leyland's home for three hours before she came outside and they approached her, after he had received a dossier containing the tweets from Ms Leyland.

When Mr Brunt asked Ms Leyland why she was using her Twitter account to attack the McCanns, she said: "I'm entitled to."

Mr Brunt then said to her "are you aware that your tweets are within a dossier that has been passed to Scotland Yard," to which Ms Leyland replied: "That's fair enough".

Later in the day, Mr Brunt said Ms Leyland invited him into her home, where they spoke but she refused to be filmed.

Mr Brunt said: "She acknowledged that she was @Sweepyface and said she probably wouldn't Tweet again."

Mr Brunt told Ms Leyland that he would keep Ms Leyland informed as to when the footage of her outside her home would be broadcast.

The following day, on October 1, Mr Brunt said Ms Leyland told him on the phone that she had "thought about ending it all".

"I said I'd call her and I did," said Mr Brunt.

"When I asked her whether she was OK, she said she's thought about ending it all but had then had a drink and spoken to her son in Los Angeles and she was feeling better."

Mr Brunt told the inquest that he believed her comments about "ending it" to be a "throwaway remark".

He said he was "devastated" upon hearing the news that Ms Leyland had died.

During the inquest, it was confirmed that a criminal offence had not taken place with regards to Ms Leyland's tweets.

It was also confirmed that after consideration the journalist had not committed a criminal offence.

Concluding the inquest Mrs Mason said the cause of death was "suicide" by "inhalation of helium".

Mrs Mason said: "Ms Leyland had recently been upset by public exposure by the media.

"I am in no doubt that Ms Leyland planned this and carried out all the planning."

A statement read out from Ms Leyland's youngest son Ben Leyland, said: "I have no doubt in my mind that the panic and fear heard in her voice when she confided in me after the Sky News interview was the final straw that pushed my mum into doing what she did.

"She was broken, a wreck and completely destroyed by what had occurred".

Psychologist, Doctor Kajetan Zakrzewski, who had previously consulted Ms Leyland told the inquest that she had "reoccurring depression" and "unstable emotional personality traits".

==========

I should think her son in LA feels dreadful, too, as he clearly didn't realise just how far gone his mother was till it was too late. So if her own son didn't know, how on earth was Brunt supposed to know? He seems to have done everything by the book, and there is NO getting round the fact that Leyland did NOT ask him to drop the interview.

And please note, that report accurately records what Brunt actually said, not what the haters imagine he said.

When Mr Brunt asked Ms Leyland why she was using her Twitter account to attack the McCanns, she said: "I'm entitled to."

Mr Brunt then said to her "are you aware that your tweets are within a dossier that has been passed to Scotland Yard," to which Ms Leyland replied: "That's fair enough".

He did NOT tell Leyland she was going to be prosecuted.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:12 pm

Sabot wrote:For how long was she tweeting as Sweepyface? I'm pretty sure it was longer than the 10 months and 424 Tweets mentioned at The Inquest.

I recall from somewhere that there was a lengthy gap in her internet activity, Sabot. Why, I don't know.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:19 pm

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/sky-news-journalist-devastated-at-death-of-madeleine-mccann-twitter-troll-31082425.html

An inquest in Leicester was told that Brenda Leyland was found dead two days after her involvement in online abuse of Madeleine McCann's parents was exposed by Sky News.

Leicester Coroner Catherine Mason also heard that Mrs Leyland, who had a long history of depression, spoke of "ending it all" in a telephone conversation with Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt.

It emerged at the 63-year-old's inquest that she sent more than 400 tweets relating to the McCanns between November 2013 and September 29 last year.

The body of the divorcee, from Burton Overy, Leicestershire, was found in a hotel room in Enderby, Leicester, on October 4 last year.

Giving evidence to the inquest, Mr Brunt confirmed that he confronted Mrs Leyland four days before her body was found, after coming into possession of a dossier of alleged Twitter "trolls" which had been handed to police by a third party.

Describing how he approached Mrs Leyland twice on September 30, Mr Brunt told the inquest that he and a cameraman had walked over to question her after she emerged from her house to get into a waiting car.

Mr Brunt said: "I was rather surprised that she did speak to me and did engage with me.

"The first question was 'Why are you using your Twitter account to attack the McCanns?' She didn't say much but she did say 'I am entitled to'."

Mrs Leyland then left in the car but returned later the same day, seemingly very relaxed, and invited Mr Brunt into her home.

The inquest heard that Mrs Leyland then declined the offer of giving a "more considered" interview and insisted that she had not done anything unlawful.

Before leaving the property, Mr Brunt gave Mrs Leyland his mobile phone number and said she could contact him with any concerns she had.

Recalling how Mrs Leyland had contacted him the following day and asked if she would be identified in Sky News' report, Mr Brunt told the inquest: "I did say I would keep her informed because I am aware of the impact such a confrontation can have on somebody."

When he spoke again to Mrs Leyland, on the eve of his report being broadcast, Mr Brunt gave her details of the report, which did not name her.

Asked by the coroner if there was anything in Mrs Leyland's voice which caused "real and immediate" concern for her life, Mr Brunt replied: "No, but when I asked her how she was, she said 'Oh I have thought about ending it all but I am feeling better - I have had a drink and spoken to my son.'

"I told her we would not name her but would show her face and that we would not identify the village where she lived."

Mr Brunt said he thought Mrs Leyland's comments about "ending it all" were a throwaway remark and that he had no idea of her background history, which included a previous attempt at suicide.

Asked how he had felt after subsequently learning that Mrs Leyland had been found dead, Mr Brunt told Mrs Mason: "I was devastated, I still am and the enormity of what's happened will always be with me."

Online Editors

Sorry, but it sounds as if Brunt bent over backwards to be fair.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:30 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/20/sky-news-mccann-brenda-leyland

Woman killed herself after being doorstepped over McCann trolling
Sky News offers condolences to family of Brenda Leyland, who was found dead in a Leicester hotel two days after channel broadcast footage of her

Sky News has offered its “sincere condolences” to the family of a woman who killed herself after being doorstepped by one of its senior reporters over abusive tweets she had directed at the parents of missing Madeleine McCann.

The news channel’s crime correspondent, Martin Brunt, told an inquest that Brenda Leyland, 63, said she had thought of “ending it all” but that she was “feeling better now”. He said he thought the remark – made days after he had confronted her – was “a throwaway line”.

Leyland was found dead in a hotel room in Leicester on 4 October last year, two days after Brunt’s report aired on Sky.

“I was devastated and I still am,” Brunt told the inquest at Leicester town hall. “The enormity of what happened will always be with me.”

Coroner Catherine Mason heard Leyland was a proud woman whose standing in her community meant everything to her, and who suffered depression and had made a previous suicide attempt.

On 30 September she was approached by Brunt and a cameraman outside her village home in Burton Overy, Leicestershire, after the journalist was given a dossier containing details of people allegedly posting abusive tweets about Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in 2007. Leyland had posted or reposted more than 400 tweets about the McCanns, the inquest heard.

Brunt said he identified himself and asked her: “Why are you using your Twitter account to attack the McCanns?”

At first she did not respond, then replied: “I’m entitled to.”

“I said: ’Are you aware that your tweets are contained in a dossier that has been passed to Scotland Yard?’ And she said: ‘That’s fair enough.’”

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She then left, but on her return later that day he approached her again and she said “Come in, Martin”, which surprised him. During a 30-minute discussion she explained her views on the McCanns, and was clearly concerned about being exposed on television and identified.

Brunt said he explained the decision was not his. “I did say I would keep her informed because I am aware of the impact such a confrontation can have on somebody,” he said.

He gave her his contact details and she contacted him the following day. Asked if there was anything in her voice to cause concern, Brunt said: “No, but when I asked her how she was, she said: ‘Oh, I’ve thought about ending it all but I am feeling better. I have had a drink and I’ve spoken to my son.’” He said he thought it was a throwaway remark. He did not know of her medical history, he said.

Sky broadcast footage of Leyland, but did not name her or give details of where she lived, the inquest heard.

Leyand’s younger son, Ben, who was not present, said in a statement she was a loving mother, a proud and stubborn woman, and “could not bear to think she could be disliked by those in her community”. He said she suffered from extreme bouts of depression and anxiety and was on medication.

Before the Sky News approach, she had been upset by a “fractious” dispute with a neighbour over an issue concerning a wall.

He had “no doubt” from the panic in his mother’s voice when she telephoned to tell him of the Sky News incident that “this was the final straw that pushed her then to do what she did”.

He said his mother was “completely destroyed” by what had occurred. He was trying to organise legal advice for her, he said. In her last email to him, she said she felt “cheerier”.

When later he could not reach her, he and his brother and father thought she had gone somewhere to “lie low” as she had asked a neighbour to look after her cat for a few days.

The inquest heard between November 2013 and September 2014, using the Twitter ID @sweepyface, she had tweeted or retweeted 2,210 posts, of which 424 mentioned the McCanns. Her tweets did not constitute a criminal offence, the inquest heard.

Brunt approached her after a dossier of tweets about the McCanns was passed to him by a source, whom he declined to reveal. The coroner said she could not compel him to reveal it and that Brunt was not accused of any criminal offence.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Mason said she did not think that anyone could have known that Leyland had made a decision to take her own life.

Jonathan Levy, senior manager at Sky News, said the approach was in line with the broadcaster’s guidelines on doorstepping: deemed to be warranted when public good outweighed intrusion, and as long as the method was proportionate.

Leyland had not accessed Twitter after Brunt’s approach and would not have seen “disturbing” tweets about herself, which are being investigated, the inquest heard.

A Sky News spokesman said: “Brenda Leyland’s tragic death highlights the unforeseeable human impact that the stories we pursue can have, and Sky News would like to extend its sincere condolences to her family.”

“The team at Sky News followed its editorial guidelines and pursued a story in a responsible manner that we believed was firmly in the public interest.”

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:31 pm

Before the Sky News approach, she had been upset by a “fractious” dispute with a neighbour over an issue concerning a wall.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:55 pm

N.M ‏@AdirenM 2h2 hours ago Portugal
@skymartinbrunt That is unbelievable. You lead a lady to death if not caused it directly by your bluntness towards a good #mccann days news

Lying forker.

It's obvious from the PROPER court reports that Brunt went the extra mile with Leyland, giving her his phone number, etc.

If the haters are looking for people to blame, they should start with themselves. Again:

WHERE WERE ALL THESE INTERNET 'FRIENDS' THAT HAVE COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK WHEN LEYLAND NEEDED THEIR HELP? BESIDES SLAGGING HER OFF FOR BEING 'IN IT'?

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:59 pm

Before leaving the property, Mr Brunt gave Mrs Leyland his mobile phone number and said she could contact him with any concerns she had.

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:14 pm

You know how they are Bonny. Only read what they want to. Some of it must make very uncomfortable reading for them.

Why did they turn their backs on one of their own?

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:25 pm

Later in the day, Mr Brunt said Ms Leyland invited him into her home, where they spoke but she refused to be filmed.

And Brunt went along with her wishes, even though that was a perfect chance to put forward the hater viewpoint. For whatever reason, Leyland didn't take it.

Just like she didn't ask for the broadcast to be pulled. Between that, and giving her his cellphone number, I don't see what Brunt is supposed to have done wrong - he's a reporter, not a psychic.

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:31 pm

They are doing that because THEY feel guilt and shame to have done to her what THEY did. They turned on her after the fact.

They are doing what is in the DNA. They have turned it into something that bears no relation to the truth of the matter.

They only know how to point their fingers and accuse. Falsely, I might add......

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:11 pm

Sonia Poulton ‏@SoniaPoulton 2h2 hours ago
Today we got on camera one of TRUE #mccann trolls who HOUNDED #BrendaLeyland. Then she hid in a toilet and went out back door. Oh the shame.

Nasty bit of work, that one.

LEYLAND INQUEST - SUICIDE VERDICT - Page 4 Soyasu11

LEYLAND INQUEST - SUICIDE VERDICT - Page 4 Soyasu11

Fancy going to a court in grubby jeans, with your pet thug and a bunch of vigilantes in tow!

Incidentally, today is a perfect example of why pretendy 'court reporters' should NEVER be believed; they only 'reported' what suited their own agenda.

And no doubt Shrieky Pointer's fillum will be more of the same.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:14 pm

Irisheyes smiling @LoveRandomleigh · 7h 7 hours ago
@jontait42 genuine question actually, I was approached by someone calling himself Jon. Made a veiled threat against Jay #McCann

Wonder which of the Amaral-worshipping whackjobs that was?

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:27 pm

Well the boyfriend looks like a slob, she is inappropriately dressed.......

Now, she does know about getting permission to film someone for public consumption, doesn't she?

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:40 pm

Sonia Poulton
‏@SoniaPoulton
@LHLNews wait until you see our footage. She got doorstepped good and proper.

What an evil bitch!

Sonia Poulton
‏@SoniaPoulton
@lordspencer no I don't believe so. Coroner threw up more questions than answers. They shouldn't think this is the end of it, far from it.

yernuts

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:41 pm

Sonia Poulton ‏@SoniaPoulton 46m46 minutes ago
@dminnimouse you should see our footage. A pure coward completely revealed. "I'm going to report you Sonia" Oh right. *quaking*

Totally off her head. rofl

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:42 pm

As I said before, she does know the legalities involved in what she was doing, doesn't she?

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:43 pm

Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton · 2h 2 hours ago
@K9Truth @fiorifan lol She had orders. Still original footage is fantastic, the moment she tried to escape me but got trapped by 2 cameras!

Jesus H. Christ. Let's hope someone reports the megalomaniac bully to the NUJ.

And she is a bully. Let's not forget, she had her pet thug, the ex-jailbird with the fondness for firearms along with her.

**Sabot** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:47 pm

Oh My, Is this true? Something nasty is going to happen. They are all getting carried away. This was my initial feeling as I began to digest the happenings of today.

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:50 pm

She should know very well that what she was doing is illegal. Did she tell the person what she wanted to film her for? Did she get permission? Did she get permission on film or in writing?

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:51 pm

The coroner didn't tell them what they wanted to hear, Sabot, so now they really are a lynch mob, out for blood - anyone's blood.

The irony of it - At an inquest into the death of a woman upset by the press, Poulton all but attacks a woman and even boasts about harrassing her with 'two cameras'. Disgusting low-lives.

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:52 pm

Sabot wrote:Oh My, Is this true? Something nasty is going to happen. They are all getting carried away. This was my initial feeling as I began to digest the happenings of today.

It will, Sabot as sure as the sun rises in the east.....

**lily** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:54 pm

bb1 wrote:The coroner didn't tell them what they wanted to hear, Sabot, so now they really are a lynch mob, out for blood - anyone's blood.

The irony of it - At an inquest into the death of a woman upset by the press, Poulton all but attacks a woman and even boasts about harrassing her with 'two cameras'. Disgusting low-lives.

That says it all right there.

**bb1** Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:56 pm

Poulton is sounding increasingly deranged, quite frankly.

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