Plastic surgeon who attempted to murder fellow doctor is jailed for life

Peter Brooks, 61, knifed Graeme Perks and doused the ground floor of his house with petrol with intent to set it on fire
A plastic surgeon who stabbed a fellow doctor after trying to set fire to his house because he wanted him 'out of the way' has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.
Peter Brooks, 61, knifed Graeme Perks and doused the ground floor of his house with petrol with intent to set it on fire after cycling to the property in Halam, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, in the early hours of January 14 2021.
Jailing him at Leicester Crown Court, sitting in Loughborough, on Monday, Judge Mr Justice Pepperall said Brooks had committed 'appalling' crimes after setting off from his home on a 'murderous expedition'.
Brooks, who was 'voluntarily absent' from his month-long trial because he was on hunger strike and said he would 'rather be dead than incarcerated', did not appear in person for the sentencing hearing on Monday after refusing to leave his cell.
Retired surgeon Graeme Perks pictured leaving Loughborough Magistrates' Court after giving evidence at the trial of Peter Brooks in March (Matthew Cooper/PA)
Stephen Leslie KC, defending, said Brooks had said he was too unwell to make the journey to court and instead listened to proceedings via video link from HMP Norwich.
Mr Justice Pepperall previously told the court that on 'no fewer than eight occasions' since 2021 Brooks, formerly of Landseer Road, Southwell, had 'used hunger strikes or the threat of some other self-harm to achieve some advantage'.
Brooks' convictions followed a four-year series of legal hearings, including a mistrial and seven other aborted trial dates.
The consultant, specialising in burns and plastics, was convicted in April of two counts of attempted murder, one for the intended use of fire and the other for the stabbing, attempted arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of a knife in a public place.
The bicycle Peter Brooks used to cycle to Graeme Perks' home to stab him (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
The trial was told Brooks had cycled in the snow to Mr Perks' home during a Covid lockdown wearing camouflage gear and armed with a crowbar, petrol, matches and a knife.
Mr Perks, a consultant plastic surgeon, had provided evidence in disciplinary proceedings against Brooks, who faced potentially losing his job with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the jury heard.
When opening the prosecution's case, Tracy Ayling KC had told the trial it was 'clear that the defendant hated Graeme Perks' and wanted him 'out of the way'.
A container of fuel was inside Peter Brooks' cycle pannier (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
Mr Perks, who was 65 at the time, had retired the month before the attack but suffered 'extremely life-threatening' injuries to his liver, intestines and pancreas, and was given a 95% chance of death.
The victim woke up when Brooks smashed through his conservatory, and went downstairs where his feet 'felt a bit damp' from the petrol before he felt a 'blow to his body'.
The court was told Brooks had also thrown petrol up the stair walls while Mr Perks' wife Bev and youngest son Henry were sleeping upstairs.
The defendant was found asleep on a garden bench later that morning when he was taken to hospital for injuries to his hand, and was arrested.
A camouflage suit found after the attack (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Ms Ayling, Mr Perks said the incident had been an 'unimaginable catastrophe' for him and his family.
He said: 'This has been a nightmare for my wife and son who must have wondered if I was going to survive.
'This has been beyond every struggle in our lives so far.'
He added: 'I have no ill-feelings, hatred or bitterness towards my ex-colleague and derive no satisfaction from the guilty conviction.
'It is just another interesting chapter in life, and I wish his family well.
'I remain eternally grateful that it was me, not Bev or Henry who were stabbed, and reflect how ironic that a burns surgeon should wish to immolate our family.'
Henry Perks, Mr Perks' son, described Brooks as a 'highly dangerous and remorseless individual' and 'nothing more than a bully', adding: 'He simply has no morals, sees no wrong in his actions and will stop at nothing to hurt those he perceives to have wronged him.
A container of fuel found in Peter Brooks' bike pannier. (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
News in 90 Seconds - 09 June 2025
'I have no doubt his failure to silence my father will consume his mind and make him dangerous in the years after his release.'
Ms Ayling said Brooks was 'manipulative' and had shown no remorse for what he had done.
She said: 'He believes himself to be not guilty of the offences. He believes he has been unlawfully tried.
'He has a history of being manipulative.'
Mitigating, Mr Leslie said it was a 'single act of violence' and that there was no pre-planning beyond the day of the attack.
He said Brooks had petrol in his garage because he was a motorbike enthusiast and that he is 'beginning to show remorse' for what he had done.
He told the court: 'He has done a lot of good in the world for many people. He should be provided with a chance to reform himself. There is still good in him.
'He is now 61, he must have the opportunity of coming out in his lifetime to return to society and be given the opportunity to carry out the good work he has demonstrated.'
Matches and a lighter were also found in Peter Brooks's bike pannier (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
Mr Justice Pepperall said Brooks must serve a minimum of 22 years, with time spent in prison already taking that to 17 years and 223 days, for the two counts of attempted murder.
A sentence of six years for arson and 18 months for possessing a knife are to run concurrently.
In a statement after Brooks was sentenced, Sam Shallow from the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'Peter Brooks committed an act of extreme violence, attempting to murder a highly respected colleague.
'This was a planned, calculated attack, in which Brooks showed he was determined to kill his former colleague.
'Since committing these atrocious acts, Brooks has sought to evade responsibility. He has requested late adjournments, dispensed with his legal team, and used his health to avoid proper progress of the court proceedings.
'On each of the nine occasions the case has been listed at court, the prosecution team has been ready.
'Justice has now caught up with Brooks.
'His victim was fortunate to escape with his life and his whole family were in danger from Brooks's inexplicable actions.
'Despite the physical and emotional trauma they have endured, they have come to court to tell their story on two separate occasions.
'This has been a long process for them, but I hope that finally seeing these proceedings coming to a close will help them in their recovery from this ordeal.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Sunday World

4 hours ago

• Sunday World

Man involved in theft of 12 e-scooters from Dublin business ‘ashamed of his actions'

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the 12 e-scooters, worth €7,780, have never been recovered A man involved in the 'opportunistic' theft of 12 electric scooters from a Dublin business has been handed a suspended prison sentence. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the 12 e-scooters, worth €7,780, have never been recovered. Patrick Berry (40) of Labre Park, Kylemore Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 pleaded guilty to theft on November 16, 2020 from a storage unit at a business park in Ballymount. An investigating garda gave evidence that a patrol car was flagged down by men outside a storage complex in Ballymount. The injured party told gardai he had an e-scooter sale and repair business and his storage unit had been broken into. He said that he was not sure the shutter had closed properly when he left the unit two days earlier. Stock image News in 90 Seconds - June 20th CCTV played to the court showed a white van stopping outside the storage unit. The shutter was slightly open. The van's driver – who has not been identified – got out and looked under the shutter. He then got back into the van and parked it closer to the storage unit. After the shutter was lifted, Berry and the driver placed 12 boxed e-scooters in to the van. The shutter was then lowered and the van left the area. Berry was identified from the CCTV. When his address was searched on November 24, 2020, the white van was parked outside and seized by gardai. He was arrested and nothing of evidential value was obtained when he was interviewed by gardai. A victim impact statement was handed to the court but not read aloud. Berry has 30 previous convictions including eight for theft. All of his previous convictions were at the District Court and Berry has had no new offences since 2021, the court heard. The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that Berry has addiction issues, which he has taken steps to address. The garda also accepted that testimonials on behalf of Berry are positive. Defence counsel said €3,200 had been gathered by his client's parents and was available in court as a token of remorse. He said Berry was apologetic and deeply ashamed of his actions. His client was using cocaine and crack cocaine. Berry has taken steps to address his addiction and is engaging with relevant services. Clean urine analysis was provided to the court, along with testimonials and an offer of trial employment Family members were also in court to support Berry. Judge Orla Crowe noted that this incident took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that it appeared the business park was 'quiet' at the time. The judge said this was an 'opportunistic' theft, which took place 'very quickly'. Referring to the victim impact statement, the judge noted while €7,780 may in some circumstances be a small amount for a business, for the injured party's business at that time it was 'almost existential'. Judge Crowe said the theft 'almost caused the collapse' of what was then a new business. She noted this caused great stress to the injured party. The judge noted the business had endured and the court commended them for that. The judge said it showed 'how one offence can have larger consequences'. Judge Crowe said the impact on the injured party, Berry's previous convictions and the value of the goods were aggravating factors. Having considered the mitigation, the judge imposed a sentence of two years and six months. Judge Crowe said the court wished to 'give this man a chance' and suspended the sentence on strict conditions, including that Berry remain drug-free, for four years. The judge also directed that the €3,200 brought to court should be paid to the injured party's company.

The Irish Sun

a day ago

• The Irish Sun

Predator who carried ‘rape kit' while posing as Uber driver to attack young women found guilty of kidnap and sex assault

A VILE sex predator carried a "rape kit" while posing as an Uber driver to attack his victims. Graham Head was today found guilty of attempting to rape one woman and sexually assaulting another in attacks around Brighton and Hove. Advertisement 5 Graham Head was found guilty on all counts today Credit: Sussex Police 5 Head was found with a "rape kit" in his car as cops arrested him Credit: Sussex Police 5 The twisted fake taxi driver is set to be sentenced on August 25 In July 2023, the 68-year-old was sentenced to 23 years behind bars for kidnap, attempted rape and assault by penetration relating to two female victims. But the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction in November 2024 after a complaint from the sex predator concerning the Judge who had ruled in the first trial. Head appeared at Lewes Crown Court for his retrial today, where a jury again found him guilty of all counts. The twisted fake taxi driver is set to be sentenced on August 25. Advertisement Read More Jurors at Lewes Crown Court previously heard how a 25-year-old female victim had managed to read his number plate after being attacked. The woman reported waking up in a car, which she thought was a taxi, to find a man sexually assaulting her. She had gotten into the car earlier that night, to travel from Brighton to Hove. Advertisement Most read in The Sun The victim escaped at around 3am and called 999 to report being assaulted by a man in latex gloves and a Covid mask. The court was told Head was a "sexual predator" who "slipped up" the night he was arrested. Chilling moment fake Uber driver who prowled streets for women to rape is arrested after victim memorised number plate In footage shown to jurors, police can be seen talking to the 68-year-old after pulling him over in Brighton. As he is speaking, police decide to search his car where they found latex gloves, viagra, condoms and a balaclava that formed a rape kit. Advertisement When asked why he had the condoms and viagra, Head said: "I'm a normal red blooded male". Police also found business cards advertising him as a "N-Uber driver" that had the slogan "Safe and Reliable - For All Occasions". Head was also found guilty of assaulting a 19-year-old woman he picked up near Hove Park. She was pulled into bushes where the predator attempted to rape her, after the victim initially took a lift from him. Advertisement The two attacks took place in the early hours of August 19 and November 18, 2022. Detective Constable Elliott Lander from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team said: 'Graham Head has twice tried to evade justice for his despicable crimes, and now twice been convicted by separate juries. 'His refusal to accept responsibility for his offending has forced his victims to relive the traumatic attacks carried out by him. The impact on them and their families cannot be overstated, and I commend all involved for their strength and courage in such challenging circumstances. 'Head will remain in prison, as he has throughout this process, as we await resentencing.' Advertisement One of Head's victims, a 25-year-old woman, tragically passed away last year. Her heartbroken mum released the following emotional statement: "Regardless of the outcome of this trial and independently of the jury's verdicts on each of the charges that Graham Head has just faced, I want to say a few words on behalf of my daughter. "My (only) daughter tragically died in late 2024 – a couple days after being informed by the CPS that Graham Head had been successful in appealing his conviction for kidnap of my daughter and for causing serious sexual harm to her and to another even younger female victim. "I feel strongly that I need to protect the anonymity of my own and my daughter's friends and the families and friends of Graham Head's victims. Advertisement "However, I want to recognise and say my own deep thanks for the strong and compassionate support that my daughter, myself, and our family have received from the Police, the CPS, the witness service, and the Courts over the past two years. "This retrial process has been tremendously difficult and a huge strain for all of us; we're glad it is now over. "I'm especially grateful for the attuned support of the Sexual Offences Investigation Team (SOIT) and the Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy (ISVA) service who supported my daughter every step of the way through the challenges of bringing this man to justice on both trials. "Looking to my family's future following my daughter's death, my biggest hope is that other families can now hopefully feel much safer knowing that this dangerous man is no longer able to predate and attack any other vulnerable young local woman thanks to his deserved (re)conviction for these appalling offences. Advertisement "My other hope is that, if there are other young women who feel they may have narrowly escaped or fallen victim to this sexual predator, then they will hopefully be reassured by my daughter's and our family's experience that they will be listened to, supported, and well cared for by the Police and Court systems." 5 Head was also found guilty of assaulting a 19-year-old woman he picked up near Hove Park 5 Police found business cards advertising him as a "N-Uber driver" that had the slogan "Safe and Reliable - For All Occasions" Credit: Sussex Police

The Journal

2 days ago

• The Journal

The full story of how the operator of gossip site Tattle Life was unmasked in an Irish court

Aoife Moore & Sinéad O'Carroll TATTLE LIFE COULD now be the most consequential website you may never have heard of. The so-called gossip platform has been at the centre of a potentially landmark but until now secretive court case. Last week, the identity of the site's operator was uncovered for the first time during those legal proceedings. The full Tattle Life tale is more salacious than anything that was allowed to be posted - without verification or moderation – on the site itself as part of the operator's £320,000-a-year grift. Pseudonyms, incognito email addresses, cryptocurrency exchanges, proxy servers, VPNs, global payment services… the modern world provides tools aplenty to gift anonymity and protection to Internet entrepreneurs when they go rogue. So, how then did one Irish couple unmask the identity of one of the most-wanted men of the social media world? It's a story that brings us from Termonfeckin to Thailand, has us hearing from forensic accountants and Instagram influencers, and leads to judges googling for 'threads'. It's a story that has seen countless lives changed or ruined irrevocably. It's a story of how the Internet isn't always the anonymous place we deem it to be. And it's a story showing that free speech online may have as many consequences as it does in real life. Tattle Life was set up in 2017, quickly becoming one of the most notorious corners of the Internet for people who use social media as businesspeople or influencers. The basic-looking message board describes itself as a place for 'commentary and critiques of people that choose to monetise their personal life as a business and release it into the public domain'. Although many people are ignorant of its popularity or even existence, the site attracts up to 12 million visitors monthly. The views mostly come from the UK but there are threads related to a significant number of Irish personalities. One click through any conversation will have you running the gamut of insults – from messages about 'her energy being off' to jibes about 'dead daddy' (a literal reference to a woman whose father had died). Unsurprisingly, problematic weight gain and weight loss commentary is a mainstay. *** 'Some days I didn't feel like I could get out of bed,' Donna Sands says of 2021. When she did sleep, she woke up with a 'knot in her stomach'. The restless nights and the grim awakenings were not due to work concerns, business objectives or even Covid-19. Donna owns the clothing brand Sylkie which prides itself in being 'Sylkie chic, effortless and fun' and sells its wares online. Founded in 2020, the Sylkie Instagram page has 30,000 followers. As a byproduct of a modern fashion business, Donna herself is popular with over 20,000 people following her personal account on Instagram. Despite the pandemic, the headaches of the business were paling in comparison to the major issue in her life. Donna and her then partner, now husband, Neil Sands were being tormented and harassed online. A friend came to Donna during the week of 20 February 2021, telling her that people had been discussing the couple on a 'gossip' website called Tattle Life. Users mostly comment on the threads anonymously and in doing so, often claim to have inside knowledge about influencers and business people, much of it false, insulting and defamatory. The only rule to start a thread is that the target has a discernible following online. 'Neil barely had social media and had never heard of Tattle,' Donna recalls. But because I had shared photos or videos of him, both of us had our lives dissected for years. As Donna's profile online had risen with the success of her businesses, she began sharing her experiences and life online, which included Neil, a tech businessman with very little social media. *** The creation of the Tattle thread about the Sands', which would ultimately grow to 45 pages, consumed the couple's lives, left them fearing for their safety, their businesses and had a profound effect on their mental health. 'It went into themes,' Neil said. 'The first was clear defamation about our businesses and how we conducted our personal and private lives, horrendous stuff. 'The second was stalking. The day we got our house was supposed to be a special day, for instance. 'We had worked our whole lives to get this house. We were standing outside and this white car drove up and down the road all day. That same day, a photograph of the house was posted on Tattle.' There were other instances that have damaged Neil and Donna's trust in people. The couple, who live in County Antrim, were visiting Neil's hometown of Termonfeckin, drinking in a bar when a woman approached them. The group chatted for a while and the woman left. Donna immediately had a bad feeling. 'Neil is so open and trusting, whereas I've become more guarded with people now because of it,' she said. 'Forty minutes after the conversation, everything I had said to this person was posted onto Tattle.' Donna confronted the woman, a lawyer, who admitted she had written it. The harassment online was constant and the couple had repeatedly contacted Tattle in order to have it removed. 'We had sent five emails to get stuff taken down,' Neil says of correspondence fired off as early as 21 February 2021. 'I begged. I used the words, 'I'm begging you', it was humiliating.' The thread remained live. They heard from Tattle Life once – on 24 September 2021 – but the admin didn't remove the content; instead they made threats against the couple in order to protect the anonymity of posters. 'Then, no matter what we did – happy days, like getting engaged, getting married, everything was in the shadow of this bubble of hatred,' Donna adds. 'On my wedding day, on the morning getting ready, I was thinking; 'if I post this I'll be criticised', everything, no matter what it is, you're second guessing. I've no issue with people not liking my dress or whatever, but some of the things said were ridiculous. So untrue and damaging.' Donna and Neil Sands Instagram Instagram Neil said the mental toll began affecting how he carried out his work too. 'You know how 'a lie gets round the world, before the truth gets its shoes on'. I didn't even know where to start,' he said. 'I do some lecturing as part of my work, and I was paranoid that every time I stood up there, someone would google my name, and this is the first thing that would come up.' In one affidavit to court, the Sands' legal team outlined how messages such as 'we are watching you' led to hyper-vigilance and a feeling of being persistently scrutinised, even at home. Donna promised Neil and her family she would stop looking at the page. It was dragging her down and making it hard to live. 'I said I would stop, but I couldn't,' she said. It's so hard knowing it's all out there and there's nothing you can do.' The couple were already aware of the dozens of people who had previously tried and failed to take on Tattle Life. The owner was in the wind, masquerading as a woman named 'Helen McDougal'. Petitions to have the website removed failed. Police requests went unanswered. Dozens of articles and investigations in the press brought up nothing. However, Neil felt his background and contacts in the tech sector might help. He decided to try to do something about it. 'We were aware of people much richer than us who tried to tackle this,' he said. 'This man's inbox is full of solicitors' letters… and he got away with it for the best part of 10 years. We knew so many people had tried, and who are we? I'm a lowly tech nerd. Donna's in fashion. But we decided to dig into it and talk to lawyers. 'We knew it would be expensive but every morning it was the first thing I thought about and last thing at night, something had to change.' The couple approached Gateley Legal, a high-flying firm with an impressive record, but even with means and motivation they knew finding the operator would not be easy. 'He was a ghost,' Neil explains. 'He's multiple ghosts, he commands the platform on an admin level, but he's a moving target.' On 12 May 2023, Gateley Legal sent pre-action correspondence to TattleLife via its one and only publicised email – tattlelife@ It was the first step of an arduous and difficult search for accountability that would last for years, call in forensic tech, accountancy and legal professionals and span multiple continents. Statement of claim Six weeks later, nobody from or on behalf of Tattle Life had replied to Gateley Legal. So on 28 June 2023, over two years after they had first became aware of the thread about them on the website, the Sands' served a statement of claim to 'person or persons unknown operating under the pseudonym Tattle Life'. The document, filed by Peter Girvan for Gateley Legal, pointed not only to the anonymous nature of Tattle Life but also to the fact that the site was not registered with the Information Commissioner's Office nor Revenue & Customs in the UK while it was making about £320,000 per year through online advertising. In their claim, the Sands' put forward the argument that Tattle Life is widely recognised as a 'hate-filled forum where abuse, harassment, vapid tittle-tattle and invasive content targeting individuals posted by anonymous users is widespread and permitted'. Of the 45-page thread on the couple themselves, Neil and Donna's legal team described a 'mocking and cruel tone' that is 'wallowed-in by its anonymous participants'. The claim detailed the alleged instances of harassment, libel and invasion of privacy of and against the Sands'. In detailing the particulars of aggravated and exemplary damage, the statement of claim sets out how the content was directed at 'core features' of the Sands' personalities and attacked the 'sanctity of their marriage'. It also outlined how individual posters mocked Neil and Donna for taking steps to stop or limit the abuse. Through the court document, the Sands' said Tattle Life knowingly profits from inflicting misery. Importantly, they also asked for injunctive relief (that the thread about them should be removed and the details therein not repeated) and reporting restrictions (so they would not be named in relation to the action). Another vital request, for special damages for financial loss and damage arising from their search for the owner and assets of Tattle Life, was also made. Reporting restrictions were granted by Mr Justice Friedman on 23 June 2023. Ostensibly to protect the Sands' because of the ongoing publication of the thread, the restrictions also meant that open proceedings would not alert the (at that point) unknown defendants, potentially allowing them to conceal assets. Less than three months later, Mr Justice McAlinden confirmed an injunction to stop the continued publication of the thread and ordered the defendants (again, still unknown at this point) to disclose all data and information about 12 users who had posted to it. The judgement was entered by reason of the failure of the defendants to ever respond or appear. As a result, the judge said he would hold an assessment of damages hearing on 1 December of the same year. On that date, in the High Court of Mr Justice McAlinden, again nobody related to Tattle Life turned up. The judge's ruling statement was brief but powerful. 'The papers in this case make very upsetting reading,' he began. 'Before the Court is a young couple who are trying to do their best in life which includes running their separate businesses. '… the way in which the plaintiffs have been vilified by anonymous posters to this Tattle Life website is quite appalling. This should not happen and there should be a speedy way to get to the bottom of these incidents with a view to closing these sites down… 'Unfortunately, the impenetrable nature of the web and the ability of these individuals to post anonymously are worrying matters which conspire to prevent speedy justice being achieved in cases of this nature.' Advertisement According to Mr Justice McAlinden, the posts in question 'utterly trash the reputations' of the Sands' who have been 'grossly defamed and severely harassed'. The judge himself said he did an experiment to see how easily the thread could be accessed. His conclusion – it was simple. Screenshot of Tattle Life, still in operation 'This is clearly a case of peddling untruths for profit,' Mr Justice McAlinden determined. 'It is the exercise of extreme cynicism, the calculated exercise of extreme cynicism which in reality constitutes behaviour which is solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery under the pretext of exposing or calling out so called 'influencers'.' He predicted a day of reckoning would come for those behind Tattle Life – and those who post on it. 'In order to hasten that day of reckoning, it is appropriate that the court makes an award of damages to each plaintiff in in this case,' he said, making an order in respect of £150,000 in damages each to Donna and Neil Sands. In also awarding costs on an indemnity basis because of the defendant's continuous 'contemptuous' behaviour, the Northern Ireland court allowed the Sands' search for accountability to continue apace as their costs should eventually be covered. *** Just under a year later, Gateley Legal was back in court with a number of requests – each one highlighting the scale of the challenge they had to officially hook their now chief suspect. In the interim, Nardello & Co. – a London and New York based investigator – had been hired by Gateley Legal to track the 'ghost' of Tattle Life. Alan Kennedy and Finn Duggan were put on the case by the firm recently named 'Investigations Consultancy of the Year' by Global Investigations Review (GIR), 'the hub for global coverage of corporate investigations and their aftermath'. Their task was to unmask – and track down – the imaginary 'Helen McDougal'. Led by lawyers, former journalists and tech investigators, Nardello sells itself on these types of missions. Their employees' day jobs are finding things or people that others do not want found. The reasons can be anything from messy divorces to corporate smear campaigns. Kennedy says that everyone, no matter how hard they try, will leave a trace online. Those who spend an inordinate amount of time on the World Wide Web leave a distinct print. They can be profiled. What kind of person are they? What are his interests? 'The investigation included the piecing together of countless, disparate fragments of the operator's multiple online identities, aliases and personas, amassed over the course of two decades,' Kennedy said on Sunday. The clues were in domain names, company filings, social media profiles, past businesses and former websites that 'lay the foundation for Tattle Life'. Kennedy and Duggan studied the technical and structural features of Tattle Life and found other websites which were similar and used the same mix of programmes. Patterns emerged. The technical side of things married up with the public record. Language was also studied. Style of writing, errors or preferred turns of phrase, unusual or incorrect punctuation habits can be revealing. The investigators found evidence, including subtle grammatical errors and recurring themes in a vegan website called Nest and Glow run by someone purporting to be one Bastian Durward. The operator of Tattle Life was sophisticated but not infallible. The Nardello report established that they consistently used the same or similar passwords across various online accounts. The codes were obtained through a confidentiality agreement and submitted to the High Court under seal. They also left marks when studying in Brighton – long before Tattle existed or before they realised they might like, some day, to hide everything. Old photographs and videos that had been posted by the operator were found. The details in the background of those photos and videos led to geo-location being possible. The tracing method can sometimes pinpoint more than one online identity but a discounting exercise was undertaken to strike off any other possibilities that emerged with the same name or similar online tag. Believing they had pieced the puzzle together, Kennedy and Duggan spent another month going through all of the evidence from the beginning to end. They feared the operator may be framing someone else and, out of abundance of caution, they had to entertain the possibility they had the wrong person entirely. During an assessment of damages hearing earlier in proceedings, Mr Justice McAlinden asked Paul Girvan if any individual had been identified yet. Girvan's reply was illuminating: '[The plaintiffs] are fortunate in the sense that they have access to resources that others would not and then to date they have spent obviously the money in these proceedings but they have instructed a company which is a world leading investigation firm…. essentially for the last year they have been working with the material they have been provided, including the material that was garnered from the Norwich Pharmacal Order and at the minute we have a draft report from them but it is not one at the minute they are not willing for it to be used in court but we are getting there if that makes sense.' Norwich Pharmacal Orders are legal instruments which compel a third party – like a social media company, bank or payments firm – to disclose information that could help identify a wrongdoer in a legal dispute. They, along with Bankers Trust Third Party Orders and Freezing Orders, were used extensively in the case. Freezing orders meant Bond was effectively locked out of accounts and couldn't spend more than a personal weekly limit set by the court. It also precluded him from dissipating any assets. The Sands' nor their legal team wanted to rely on any single piece of information or communication before asking any court to remove reporting restrictions. Taken together, forensic tracing, analysis of financial disclosures following court orders and the Nardello report, a compelling picture of the true operator of Tattle Life emerged. Any potentially lingering hesitancy to publicly name Sebastian Henry Bond as the man behind the site was dispelled when Neil Sands received a legal letter from a solicitor retained by Bond. In that letter, dated 10 June, the solicitor described Bond as 'a founder' of Tattle Life. University-educated with technical expertise in software development, Bond was without doubt Helen McDougal. And Bastian Durward. He had set up Tattle Life. He had profited from its operations for the past eight years. He was the 'person unknown'. The next step for Gateley Legal was to return to court to ask for the lifting of reporting restrictions and the substitution on all orders and claims of 'person unknown' to 'Sebastian Bond'. On Friday, 13 June they were successful on both counts. *** But where is Sebastian Bond? And where is his money? Without knowing where Bond is and making sure he couldn't dissipate his assets, the judgement that the Sands' had won in September and December 2023 would be on paper only. The Nardello report, dated November 2024, revealed Tattle Life's financial structure, banking arrangements, revenue streams, digital assets and operational infrastructure. It also identified which third parties could hold important information which would be used to further untangle Bond's corporate web. The investigators ascertained that Bond was the sole director of a company called Yuzu Zest Limited, incorporated in the UK in December 2019. From June 2023 to March 2025, there were regular recurring credits as well as one-off exceptional payments between Yuzu and Bond's accounts. The court heard the patterns of the payments supported the inference of an 'embedded and complex financial relationship'. Yuzu Zest Limited went into voluntary liquidation on 21 October 2024, a process which seems to be ongoing. However, it has also filed a declaration of solvency with an estimated surplus of almost £900,000. The Sands' worried that Bond was using – and continues to use – a 'corporate veil' to escape liability. Kennedy and Duggan, through a cyber investigation tool, were also able to link Bond to cryptocurrency exchanges. In an affidavit in late 2024, Peter Barr of Gateley Legal, said there were real concerns that Bond may dispose of assets related to Tattle Life and Yuzu. He argued that Bond is a man with technical expertise in software development who has displayed an 'acute awareness of digital security and finance'. The court heard that he has no fixed residence or tangible assets and has provided varying birth dates. 'The use of digital banking services and cryptocurrency exchanges, which often elude conventional regulatory scrutiny, suggests a strategy aimed at preserving anonymity and enabling asset protection,' Barr argued in his affidavit. The Freezing Orders on Bond's and Yuzu's assets were applied for to try to safeguard the High Court's damages ruling. They were granted on 9 December 2024 to the tune of £1.8 million in order to cover growing costs, as well as damages. To life the freezing orders, Bond must pay at least £1,077,173.00. Orders for Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust Disclosures were also made against third parties and led to the identification of another company, Kumquat Tree Limited, related to Tattle Life's finances. Incorporated in Hong Kong on 22 February 2024, the company received money that was generated by Tattle Life's revenue-raising activities. As with Yuzu, Bond was the sole director and shareholder of Kumquat. The revelations also meant another return to court on 20 March 2025 to further ask for a freezing order in relation to Kumquat and more third-party orders to compel financial institutions to provide disclosures of all relevant records about Bond, Yuzu and Kumquat. The information furnished from this round identified multiple bank and financial accounts to which monies made by Tattle Life was deposited. The accounts span several asset management firms and investment banks. Spending habits revealed in statements included regular transactions in supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations and hospitality venues across the UK point to physical presence in the country through 2023 and into much of 2024. These ended on 24 March 2025. *** After this flurry of court activity, the thread about Donna and Neil was finally deleted from Tattle Life on 11 May this year, 20 months after the initial injunction. 'We were so elated and it shows it can be done,' Donna said in the aftermath of Friday's hearing. Since then, the story has exploded. The news spread across titles all over the world – every outlet from The Guardian to the Daily Mail has covered the story in the UK, while it's also reached the pages of Cosmopolitan and television screens through Good Morning Britain. Where to next? The couple is attempting to take legal action against everyone who posted the thread and is encouraging others to make sure they have gathered any evidence of the threads that named them specifically. For Bond, there will be attempts to freeze even more of his assets. He is believed to currently be in Thailand but he also has significant links to Bali, Indonesia. 'I'm so happy to have his name on his docket, a man hiding behind a woman's identity, encouraging people to the darkest corner of the internet to tear each other down,' says Donna. 'It's so nice to see the support we have, we're overwhelmed, we knew there was a lot of people damaged by it. We've had messages from across the world, I hope we can use this good news now to lift each other up.' Neil believes this is a turning point. 'There hasn't been many turning points in the history of online bullying and harassment, but this is one. 'It's not a threat to free speech but consequence-free speech – speech that crosses the bridge into criminality. It's not really over. It's not over until he's in front of a court to answer questions. 'He's had one weekend of what everyone bullied on Tattle has had for years.' Tattle Life was basically uncontactable. Uncontrollable. It had one tick-the-box email address or contact form address on its ugly interface. In limiting the ability to reach out, Tattle Life was deliberately frustrating, deliberately unknowable. But, in the most devastating evidence captured during the case, a third-party disclosure confirmed this decision was another mistake, another weak point in the shield of anonymity. But now it is known. Mr Sebastian Henry Bond is the individual who operates the email address tattlelife@ Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal