Facebook bullies vilify Carlisle single mum

When Carlisle single mum Pam Bainbridge spoke to a magazine about her life on benefits she provoked a torrent of abuse on online forums and messageboards.

Under fire: Carlisle mum Pam Bainbridge

Her supposed “life of luxury” on benefits was revealed in That’s Life magazine which detailed how she could afford laptops and games for her three children plus flatscreen TVs and a car without ever doing a day’s work.

The story was picked up by newspapers, including the News & Star, and has been one of our most discussed stories with hundreds of comments posted online by readers, many of whom were furious that she could brag about such things while they had to work for their luxuries.

But the story has also exposed again how Facebook can be a refuge for mindless bullies.

A group was set up labelling Miss Bainbridge a “lazy *****” which quickly gained 1,000 members.

Comments posted on the Facebook page ranged from the incredulous to downright abusive, despite the fact that she had broken no law, appeared to be a good mother and was in the same situation as thousands of other Cumbrian families.

Thankfully the Facebook group has now been removed, but sadly if Pam Bainbridge or her children ever Google her name it will still come top of the search. Another group has now been set up by Chris Whiteside, angry at having his first efforts to vilify an ordinary family removed.

A discussion thread also sprang up on the CUFC Online website run by Carlisle United fans, labelling Miss Bainbridge as “scum” and worse. One moron said she should be sterilised.

The messageboard is unmoderated, which means comments appear without being checked first. When I decided to test the complaints procedure it took four days to get the comments removed.

Emails to the site went unanswered and complaint forms on the Footy Mad network which hosts the site displayed error messages. Eventually the CUFC Online editor Tim Graham got back to me and apologised.

“I can honestly say that this is the first I knew of these comments. If I had done then I would have chopped them. I’ve deleted the posts now,” he said.

Clearly sites like this and indeed Facebook must do more to tighten up their procedures and do more to stamp out these kind of comments.

Personally, I’m glad that Pam Bainbridge’s children have laptops (you may have noticed that the Government has launched a scheme to give these to poorer families). And it would seem I’m in the minority in thinking that she is at least trying to do the best for her children.

I would hope, however, that we could agree she has shown more dignity than the cowards who use the freedom offered by the internet to direct such hate towards a woman and her children.