The first person to be charged with a "web rage" attack was jailed for two and a half years today.
Paul Gibbons: he first met John Jones in an Islamic chatroom
Tempers flared after Paul Gibbons, 47, and John Jones, 43, exchanged insults in an Internet chatroom, an Old Bailey judge was told.
After tracing Mr Jones to his home address in Clacton, Gibbons armed himself with a pickaxe handle and, accompanied by a man with a machete, travelled 70 miles to the Essex seaside town in December 2005.
When they arrived, Mr Jones, whose girlfriend and three children were in the house, opened the door holding a knife for protection.
A fight broke out in which Mr Jones was disarmed and then beaten with the pickaxe handle and cut with his own knife.
advertisementGibbons fled after Mr Jones's girlfriend called for help. Mr Jones suffered cuts to his head, neck and hands.
An earlier hearing was told that Gibbons, from Southwark, south London, and Mr Jones had encountered each other in a chatroom called Islam 10 because they both had an interest in the Muslim faith.
Things started to go wrong when Gibbons accused Mr Jones of spreading rumours about him.
"There was an exchange of views between the victim and the defendant which were threatening on both sides," Ibitayo Adebayo, prosecuting, said.
Jailing Gibbons, who has a record of violence, Judge Richard Hawkins told him: "It is accepted by the prosecution that Mr Jones taunted you and dared you to go to his house where you would be greeted with weapons."
Gibbons, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty last month to unlawful wounding after the prosecution agreed not to proceed with charges of attempted murder and threats to kill.
After the attack, it was found that Gibbons had boasted about what he was going to do on the Internet.
Jonathan Green, defending, said that Mr Jones had given the impression of being the innocent victim but his web blog "painted a different picture".
He said that Mr Jones had been the first to initiate physical confrontation.
Mr Green added that there was a misconception that anything said in chatrooms was anonymous, leading to people writing things that they otherwise would not dream of saying.
Det Sgt Jean-Marc Bazzoni, of Essex Police, said that the case demonstrated the importance of protecting one's identity on the Internet.
"Mr Jones had posted pictures of his family on the web and had chatted to Gibbons on an audio link," he said.
"It demonstrates how easily other users can put two and two together and also shows how children could also find themselves in danger."
