Woman's lying Facebook post led to false arrest over 'murder threat'

She pretended that he was intending to cut her up and throw her into a river, Mold Crown Court was told.

The man was arrested and held in custody for 24 hours on suspicion of making a threat to kill and other matters.

Defendant Sophie Watkin, 18, of Bron y Buckley, in Welshpool, admitted a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

But she escaped immediate custody in a case a judge described as exceptional.

She received a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years, with 40 hours rehabilitation.

The defendant was made the subject of a two-year order not to contact the man and not to pretend to be him on social media.

Mr Recorder Simon Mills said that the offence involved setting up a Facebook account in the name of another.

"You made out that he was threatening to kill you," he said.

Prosecuting barrister Simon Mintz said that on June 1, Facebook messages purported to show that a man was intending to murder the defendant. As a result ,the man was arrested and questioned.

But it quickly came to light that she had set up the Facebook profile herself and when arrested and interviewed she admitted doing so.

Defending barrister Jonathan Austin said that Watkin was a very vulnerable young woman of good character.

"She is sorry about what she did," he said.

But he urged the court to draw back from a custodial sentence. His client had a partner and they were expecting a baby, he added.