TWO brothers used Facebook to accuse a man of being a paedophile. Magistrates in Worcester heard how Carl and Ian Lloyd targeted Ian Tasker with a series of public and private messages.

Under the terms of the two-year restraining orders, the pair are prohibited from having any contact, directly or indirectly, with Mr Tasker by any means, including but not limited to phone, letter, email, internet or in person, or encouraging anyone else to do so. Matt Dodson, prosecuting, said Mr Tasker complained to police about explicit comments on Facebook about him and a court case in which he is involved.

“It was not just between two or three people. It opens to hundreds of people looking at messages. They did know it caused harassment to the injured party and they invited other people to make comments.”

Carl Lloyd, 43, of Warndon Green, was charged with sending threatening posts on Facebook containing details of a court case involving Mr Tasker between Sunday and Wednesday, August 19-22. He was also charged with causing harassment to Mr Tasker via Facebook messages between Sunday and Monday, November 4-12.

Carl Lloyd was found guilty of a further charge of obstructing a policeman on Sunday, August 26, when he pushed him a couple of times before being arrested in connection with the first offence.

Ian Lloyd, 38, of Holly Mount Road, Tolladine, was charged with sending indecent or offensive messages.

Barry Newton, defending, said the Lloyds grew up with the complainant. They were childhood friends but there had been no contact for about the last 10 years. He said it was when they were made aware of a court case involving Mr Tasker they began their “foolish behaviour” on Facebook, with messages going back and forth between the parties.

“His initial motive was concern for people in the area but that’s not the way to go about it.” Mr Newton said Carl Lloyd pushed the PC during an argument about whether they were entitled to enter his property.

Carl Lloyd was also given a community order and put on curfew between 7pm and 7am for four months, when time he will have to live at an address in Diglis, and be electronically tagged. He was also ordered to pay costs of £85.