Samantha Wall, a Manchester-based social media consultant, has finally faced justice after a prolonged online stalking campaign where she targeted business and tech professionals in the North West.
55-year-old Wall was sentenced to 28 months at Minshull Street Crown Court, with Judge Neil Usher saying it was an “unrelenting barrage.”
He added that in sentencing he had also taken into account her mental health condition of having a delusional disorder, and that her name “has become synonymous” with stalking.
The sentence is 28 months for offences against Burton, with 24 months for those related to Timperley. These will be served concurrently.
In she is the subject of an indefinite restraining order and she also has to surrender all her electronic devices.
Samantha Wall pled guilty to charges of stalking and sending false messages at Manchester Magistrates’ Court in November 2024 to victims Naomi Timperley and motivational coach Brad Burton.
However, the sentencing hearing was delayed five times this year, after Wall’s defence team were granted last-minute adjournments.
On LinkedIn, Burton said:
“28 months. Her carriage awaits.
“Thanks to my wife, friend and family and everyone who supported us along the way and the courage, sensitivity & professional of Investigative journo Matt O Donoghue who initially broke this case.”
In spite of all of this, Wall’s posts remain online – something both Burton and Timperley stated needed to change. Burton asked of Linkedin: “does her sentence still not constitute ‘Bullying and Harassment’. Hold your heads in shame.”
Outside of court, Timperley stated of the social media networks:
“… you can be abused by somebody and complain about it, very defamatory stuff and false accusations and they never did anything.
“[…] I think it’s really really sad that as a victim of a crime I haven’t been protected by them.”
Tech leader’s stalking ordeal comes to an end
Leading businesswoman Naomi Timperley’s ongoing ordeal at the hands of online stalker and harasser Samantha Wall has finally come to an end.
“She’s ruined my life. I’ve had sleepless nights. Sometimes I didn’t want to get out of bed,” Timperley told a BBC Panorama programme, which investigated the case earlier this year.
Wall’s sustained campaign of harassment, which stretched over several years, sent shockwaves through the North West’s business community.
Although Wall’s conviction was in relation to two victims – Burton and Timperley – Panorama spoke to a number of victims who did not want to be identified but also claimed they were stalked by Wall over a lengthy period of more than 10 years.
55-year-old Samantha Wall, who built a following of more than 30,000 on LinkedIn under the guise of a social media professional, used her platforms to post lengthy and obsessive accusations about people that say they had never met Wall or only knew her as a passing acquaintance.
Some of her most extreme claims were bizarre accusations of “gang stalking” and false allegations that one victim had “killed” her cat. One post even reached a staggering 20,000 words.
But despite repeated reports to social media companies, much of her content remained online. And it began to spiral out of control.
After Wall claimed Brad Burton had been harassing her for 10 years and had been arrested and jailed, he was forced to post pictures of himself online to prove he was not in prison.
The response? She claimed those images were of his ‘psychopathic twin’ to cover up that he was in prison. All false accusations.
For Naomi Timperley, named the second Most Influential Woman in UK Tech by Computer Weekly in 2024 and co-founder of new venture company End Game, the ordeal became all-consuming.
Despite only meeting Wall in passing and connecting on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn, Timperley was soon targeted with hundreds of messages, accused of criminal damage, destroying Wall’s business and joining up with others to carry out so-called ‘gang stalking’.
“It’s just been hideous, really hideous, and I don’t know why it happened. I’m still really anxious, sometimes I get really sad,” she told Panorama.
Another alleged Manchester victim, marketing consultant Justine Wright, was targeted for over a decade. She had briefly employed Wall and, when Wall left, the online stalking began.
A psychiatric report submitted to the court stated that Wall suffers from a chronic delusional disorder, a condition which her defence team has cited in mitigation.
Despite this, many of Wall’s defamatory posts remain online, even after the guilty plea. Although several complaints were made by the victims to the social media companies involved, none of the companies have taken down Wall’s abusive messages.
The BBC Panorama investigation earlier this year shone a harsh spotlight on those failings from social media companies, and the devastating impact online stalking can have on its victims.
One user on Reddit said: “[I] had seen her post some concerning accusations that suggested she was a bit unhinged but didn’t realise the extent and the falsity of the claims. [I] hope she gets the help she needs and that the victims can move on from all this.”
[Image – Brad Burton/LinkedIn]
