How an internet troll left his Portsmouth victim going bald through stress
SO TOXIC has businessman Paul Cheape's brand become that has been forced to shut his shop.
The brand of Steamachine has been binned after it was linked to false claims of paedophilia by online bully Oliver Redmond.
Speaking to The News outside court, Mr Cheape laid bare the horrendous time he has suffered.
'In the past year I've been a victim of online trolling,' he said.
'I've been accused of being a paedophile by somebody who has decided to make it their business to ruin our business.
'We've subsequently incurred massive financial losses at the hand of this person and his online trolling.
'It's been a year of absolute hell.
'I've been sick, I've been stressed and worried.
'Ultimately we've actually had to close essentially because of the impact this had.
'We've been the victim of massive online trolling by this person, Oliver Redmond.
'Not only have I had to let staff go but I've also suffered significant financial losses through the business.
'But that's just the beginning of things.
'I myself have developed rapid onset alopecia and lost large chunks of my hair.
'I've been sick, completely unable to eat food, stressed to the point where my body is feeling like it's giving in for months to the point where my partner has urged me to go to the hospital because of how deathly sick I look.
'It's been absolutely hell on earth at the hands of this person - it's been horrible.
'I feel happy that justice has been served and the court has seen the actions of this person that we've evidenced.
'But the impact of this isn't going to disappear overnight.
'The impact of this person - it's long lasting, it's happened over the course of a year.
'It's not going to go away overnight. We're still going to suffer but I'm happy that justice was served.
'This is huge for me to see an online bully, a troll, being caught for his actions that there's a real-world consequence for engaging in these activities and behaving like this.
'I feel happy but it will take a while to recover from the damage that has been done.'
Mr Cheape had medical intervention to reverse the growing bald spot on his head and beard hair loss, he said.