"These messages were indecent and offensive not to mention extremely disturbing"
Satpal Singh, aged 34, from Hounslow has been jailed for sending video clips of a disturbing nature to a client as a threat.
Singh, a building contractor, did not finish a building work job he was supposed to complete.
His client who gave him the contract sought legal advice to file a civil claim against Singh after he had failed to complete the work.
Upon finding out that his client was going to take legal action, Satpal Singh retaliated by sending his client a number of WhatsApp messages with disturbing video clips.
The graphic videos clips contained violence against a woman being raped and a homeless man being robbed by a group of men, people being hanged and beheaded.
The client who was the victim saw these clips being sent to him as perceived threats from Singh due to his legal action.
Based on the disturbing content of the videos, Singh was jailed at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on August 1, 2018.
Singh was sent to prison for 12 weeks for one count of sending a communication of an indecent or offensive nature. In addition, was ordered to pay £115 surcharge to the victim.
Previously after his arrest, Satpal Singh had pleaded not guilty to the offence. But during his trial at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, on July 19, 2018, he was found guilty.
The spokesperson for the CPS, Kris Venkatasami said:
“These messages were indecent and offensive not to mention extremely disturbing, intimidating and frightening for the victim who was simply asking for what he was owed.
“Not only did Singh deny sending these videos, he even claimed they could have mistakenly been sent by his own children who also used his phone. The prosecution was able to prove that this was not the case.
“The CPS takes the sending of such communications extremely seriously and will prosecute where there is evidence.”
This case shows that the use of social media platforms such as WhatsApp cannot be used to threaten people or break the law in this manner.
With the UK legislation strengthened in these areas the offences related to the use of electronic messages and sharing of graphic messages of this nature for criminal means is no longer tolerated.
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