The Telegraph reports that a law student left fearing reprisals after he was falsely named as a paedophile on Facebook has won a £10,000 libel damages payout at the High Court.

Chef, Jeremiah Barber, 24, posted child porn on the Facebook page of student, Raymond Bryce, along with the comment: “Ray, you like kids and you are gay so I bet you love this picture, Ha ha.” Barber, who had fallen out with Mr Bryce over an £80 debt, removed the post, made on 23 November 2008, within 24 hours.

But he later pleaded guilty to making and distributing an indecent image of a child at Stafford Crown Court and was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and handed a £1,200 costs bill.

Now top judge Mr Justice Tugendhat, sitting at London’s High Court, has awarded Mr Bryce £10,000 in libel damages for the stress he endured, including anxiety that hundreds of people in his local area may have seen the post.

Mr Bryce, 24, who lives with his parents in Stone, Staffs, suffers from high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome, but has secured a place on a full time degree course studying law at Stafford University.

In the witness box, Mr Bryce said: “Jeremy Barber put a defamatory blog (sic) on Facebook and made me appear to be a paedophile with homosexual tendencies, neither of which is true. He did so with intention and malice. When I viewed the pictures I was shocked because they were repulsive and disgusting and in no way reflected my attitude to life. I asked for an apology which I have not to this date received. The whole thing has been distressing, not only for myself but for my family,” he added.

Mr Bryce said there had been 11 links to the post, 2 comments from viewers, and more than 800 people would have been able to view the material.

Access the original article online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/7912731/Law-student-wins-10000-after-being-branded-a-paedophile-on-Facebook.html