Peaches Geldof faces criminal probe after tweeting names of mothers who helped Lostprophets paedophile abuse their babies

  • Celebrity named the 'sick, horrible women' online in now-deleted rant
  • Attorney General's Office aware of tweets and says case 'is a police matter'
  • South Wales Police say they're speaking to prosecutors over tweets
  • Watkins, 36, attempted to rape a 11-month-old baby in April last year
  • The boy's mother - Woman A - pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting attack
  • Another mother - Woman B - allowed singer to plot raping her daughter

  • By naming mothers the victims can be identified, which is illegal

By Sam Greenhill

PUBLISHED: 10:45 EST, 28 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:39 EST, 28 November 2013


Peaches Geldof is facing a criminal investigation for tweeting names that may identify victims of paedophile rock star Ian Watkins.

A court order was made to grant lifelong anonymity to two children whose mothers allowed Watkins to abuse them.

But yesterday Miss Geldof, daughter of Boomtown Rats singer Bob, broke the order by naming their mothers to her 161,000 followers on Twitter.

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In trouble: Peaches Geldof could face a police investigation after she tweeted the names of women who helped Ian Watkins abuse their babies

In trouble: Peaches Geldof could face a police investigation after she tweeted the names of women who helped Ian Watkins abuse their babies

Rant: The celebrity's series of tweets have been deleted, but this grab shows how she ranted about the 'sick, horrible women'

Rant: The celebrity's series of tweets have been deleted, but this grab shows how she ranted about the 'sick, horrible women'

Prolific: In a less contentious tweet, Miss Geldof also commented on a magazine feature where she says Watkins was compared to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Prolific: In a less contentious tweet, Miss Geldof also commented on a magazine feature where she says Watkins was compared to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Mug shot: Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins faces jail after he admitted a series of sexual offences against babies
Ian Watkins file photograph

Peadophile: Ian Watkins is shown, left, in a police mugshot and, right, at the height of his fame

The Attorney General said a possible criminal offence had been committed. South Wales Police are investigating.

Only 24 hours previously, Miss Geldof had been lecturing the Press about invading people’s privacy.

Naming the mothers could lead to the identification of the children, which is why the court called them only Woman A and Woman B. Lostprophets singer Watkins was branded a ‘determined and committed paedophile’ after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.

Warning: The Attorney General's office has now tweeted to say that tweeting the names of women could be a criminal offence

Warning: The Attorney General's office has now tweeted to say that tweeting the names of women could be a criminal offence

The 36-year-old, from Pontypridd, South Wales, plotted the abuse with the two mothers in text and internet messages.

Yesterday morning Miss Geldof, 24, ranted to her followers: ‘The papers MUST name “woman A & B” who offered up their babies to this monster.’

Facing questions: Peaches Geldof tweets the names, but they were later deleted

Facing questions: Peaches Geldof tweets the names, but they were later deleted

When no newspaper took up her suggestion, she decided to publish the banned details herself, after reportedly reading them on a US-based website.

She tweeted: ‘The names are...’ and wrote both mothers’ full names, before adding: ‘what sick, horrible women’.

Miss Geldof was warned by fellow Twitter users that her actions were in breach of a court order, to which she replied: ‘How???’ It is understood the message remained online for four hours before it was deleted. Twitter users branded her  an ‘idiot’.

Last night a spokesman for Attorney General Dominic Grieve said: ‘We understand that the names of the co-defendants in the Ian Watkins case were posted online but have now been removed.

‘As has been previously reported, the co-defendants were the mothers of the victims.

‘Victims of sexual offences have automatic lifetime anonymity and the publication of names or information which  can lead to their being identified is a criminal offence. This is a police matter.’

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, of South Wales Police, said: ‘We are currently in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the matter and will take action if appropriate.’

Only a day earlier, Miss Geldof was taking the moral high ground over the Press, accusing newspapers of being ‘intrusive’ for reporting the court proceedings concerning Nigella Lawson’s alleged drug-taking.

Criminal: Ian Watkins, 35, pictured with former girlfriend Fearne Cotton, faces jail after his guilty pleas. They pair are pictured together in London in 2008

Criminal: Ian Watkins, 35, pictured with former girlfriend Fearne Cotton, faces jail after his guilty pleas. They pair are pictured together in London in 2008

She tweeted: ‘It’s at times like this that I wish that the press would not intrude into celebrities’ private lives on this degree. Did we learn nothing from the phone hacking scandal?’

She apparently failed to appreciate that the court case involving Miss Lawson is open to the public and is being widely reported on all media outlets.

The judge even took the unusual step of encouraging the media to apply for all reporting restrictions to be lifted – and then granting that request.

By contrast, the judge in the Watkins case made certain there were restrictions in place on what could be reported, which were automatically adhered to by the professional journalists covering the court.

Miss Geldof, who has two young sons with rocker husband Thomas Cohen, works as a journalist, writing columns for The Daily Telegraph and Elle Girl and articles for The Guardian.

It is not known whether she has ever had any training in media law.

Under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, the maximum sentence for the offence is two years in prison.

Miss Geldof’s agent said there was no comment to make.

Anyone who has been affected by this case can contact South Wales Police on 02920 634184 or the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

The dangers of Twitter and Facebook: How the courts have punished people for their online comments

James Baines posted a picture purporting to be James Bulger's killer Jon Venables as an adult

James Baines posted a picture purporting to be James Bulger's killer Jon Venables as an adult

A Twitter user who posted pictures purporting to be of James Bulger's killer Jon Venables as an adult was yesterday given a 14-month suspended prison sentence.

Security guard James Baines was handed the sentence, suspended for 15 months, at London's High Court for a flagrant contempt of court.

Baines, who is from Liverpool and close to the Bulger family, will also have to pay £3,000 in costs.

He admitted disobeying a January 2001 injunction binding on the whole world which prohibits the publication of any information alleging to identify the appearance, whereabouts, movements or new identities of Venables or Robert Thompson, who were convicted of the two-year-old’s murder in November 1993.

One image showed Venables in a school photograph as a child while below and alongside were different images of an adult male.

They were accompanied by the tweet: 'Its on bbc news about the jon venables pic on twitter saying its been removed eerrm no it hasn't.'

It was the first time the Attorney General had brought contempt proceedings involving the use of social media; however, a number of high-profile cases have seen people fined for breaking the law on Twitter or Facebook.

Nine people have been ordered to pay compensation to the woman raped by footballer Ched Evans for naming her online.

Last month Speaker’s wife Sally Bercow issued a grovelling apology to Tory peer Lord McAlpine after libelling him on Twitter at the High Court to draw a line under her comments on Twitter.

Sally Bercow has paid £15,000 in damages to Lord McAlpine after she libeled the peer in a tweet last November
Lord McAlpine was wrongly implicated in a Newsnight programme

Payout: Commons speaker's wife Sally Bercow, left, has paid £15,000 in damages to Lord McAlpine, right, after she posted a defamatory tweet wrongly implicating him in a child sex scandal

The 43-year-old agreed to pay £15,000 in damages, which will be donated to the Chelsea Pensioners, and has been left with a six-figure legal bill.

The libel arose following a BBC Newsnight programme last November over the abuse of young boys at care homes in Wales. It alleged that ‘a leading Conservative politician from the Thatcher years’ had been involved.

As speculation raged over his identity, Mrs Bercow posted on Twitter: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*’

The allegation was without foundation and Lord McAlpine announced that he would pursue those who libelled him. The peer agreed a £185,000 settlement with the BBC and £125,000 with ITV.

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Those whom welcome the outing should prepare for a life where nothing is really "secret" any more. You are always being monitored, at all times.

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I believe if Ms Geldof gave correct names more power to her , will be happy to see these mothers named and shamed then sent to prison he admitted, this means they conspired with him sick evil women should be sterilized so never have children again

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Do as you like, since those who expose you will go to court?

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I can relate to Peaches in a way. Thise despicable women don't deserve protection HOWEVER.....those little children do. High profile case, verbal diarrhoea on social networking sites... Those poor babies have been through enough without the nation knowing who they are!! Tut tut Peaches! THINK before you tweet!

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What she doesn't realise is that the mothers have to remain anonymous to protect the actual victims.. The children!

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Well at least the police are quick on the mark on this one. Obviously want to make up for delays with Saville et el!

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the mothers are not victims they should be named and shamed and the children taken of them well done peaches hope enough ppl got their names

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It sickens me how depraved this country is becoming.

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Of course we need these perverted women's names for justice to be seen to be done and to protect the public: goodness, giving away a surname is hardly going to identify a baby or if the surname is such an unusual one the baby's surname can be changed in it's own interest. Peaches Geldoff surely has a public interest defence should it come to that.

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Give that girl a medal.

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