Sheffield man demands justice after claiming he was falsely called a paedophile

Daniel Kenyon, aged 46, of Wood Spring Court, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, was accused of posting an unfounded and false comment on Facebook allegedly accusing 71-year-old neighbour Brian Johnson of being a paedophile. Kenyon was subsequently charged with sending a false message by public electronic communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience, or anxiety on July 27, 2022.

But Kenyon’s case was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service during a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on February 28 on the grounds that the accused had at the time believed the information to be true and as soon as he was informed it was not, he had taken the information down.

Retired librarian Mr Johnson feels hugely disappointed with the CPS especially after the accused had also walked out of Sheffield Crown Court just four days earlier with a suspended prison sentence after he had assaulted Mr Johnson with a baseball bat during the same month in which he had made the alleged Facebook post.

Mr Johnson said: “The CPS were unable to get a custodial sentence in the crown court and they have discontinued the Facebook posting. I do not think the CPS have covered themselves in glory in this matter.”

The crown court case heard that the relationship between the neighbours had deteriorated after Mr Johnson had raised concerns about the proximity of a new fence, according to prosecuting barrister Katherine White, and when Mr Johnson decided to paint his side of the fence he was attacked with a bat by Kenyon who videoed the incident on his phone accusing his neighbour of trespassing.

Mr Johnson was struck three or four times, according to the crown court, and suffered serious bruising across his lower back and a leg and he has since suffered flashbacks and symptoms indicative of a post traumatic stress disorder.

The crown court also heard Kenyon had videoed part of this incident on his phone before he attacked Mr Johnson and he had also posted the video on Facebook with a caption, according to Ms White.

Kenyon, who has 10 previous convictions for 37 offences, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after this incident on July 24, 2022.

Judge Wright sentenced Kenyon to 12 months of custody suspended for 12 months with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £750 in compensation.

Kenyon was also given a five-year restraining order to protect Mr Johnson, including a ban on any further Facebook communication concerning the complainant.

Mr Johnson told the crown court hearing: “I was assaulted by Daniel Kenyon with a baseball bat on July 24, 2022. I suffered severe bruising to my back, thighs, knees and calves. As well, I suffer from PTSD and I am on anti-depressants and receiving therapy. I feel vulnerable and intimidated especially because the offender lives next door to me.”

He added: “The offender also posted photos of me on his Facebook page calling me a paedophile.”

But when Mr Johnson later attended Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on March 1 for magistrates to consider the separate false communications charge against Kenyon, he was told the matter had been dealt with the day before, on February 28, and it had been discontinued and dropped.

Mr Johnson said: “I do not think justice has been done.”

The complainant, Mr Johnson, has complained to the CPS because he wants the communications case reopening and wants Mr Kenyon prosecuting for this matter.

In a letter to Mr Johnson, CPS Senior Crown Prosecutor June Allen stated there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and the CPS had to question whether it would have been in the public interest for this case to go ahead.

She stated a prosecution for this alleged offence required proof that at the time of the Facebook post Daniel Kenyon knew the information he had posted was false.

Ms Allen confirmed the CPS has discontinued the case on the grounds that at the time Mr Kenyon had believed Mr Johnson was a paedophile even though he was not and never has been, and after Mr Kenyon was informed that Mr Johnson was not a paedophile, he had taken the information down and had taken steps to remedy the situation.

Mr Johnson was also told in the letter that the time limit for such cases has expired so the case cannot be reopened, and he has been told he can make a complaint to the Victims' Right to Review scheme but any findings will only result in an advisory outcome and will not result in any reopening of the case.

Ms Allen also stated the communications matter was an alleged ‘summary offence’ which means it can only be tried at magistrates’ court, unless it is linked to other serious matters, and it must be charged within six months of the date of the offence.

Mr Johnson stated he cannot understand why the communications matter was not deemed to have been linked to the serious assault which had happened around the same time.

He feels he has been robbed of justice and claimed a wall of his home was daubed with graffiti saying ‘Paedophile lives here’ after the assault.

Mr Johnson, who is now considering the possibility of civil proceedings, said: “It is said he took steps to remedy the situation. What does this mean? The post was out there. Did he put a new post saying it was not true? No. He knew it was false.”