'False paedophile slur had a massive effect on me'

Mark Sullivan never thought the last time he would see the woman he fell for at a charity dinner, she would be sitting in the glass-walled dock of a magistrates' court.

His former partner, Deborah Hayes, from Mytchett in Surrey, was this month given a three-year restraining order and told to stay away from Sullivan, who she had falsely suggested had sent indecent images of children on social media.

Sullivan, 64, a chip shop owner from north-east Hampshire, said the allegations on social media, described by police as "harmful and false," almost destroyed his business and his life.

"That word [paedophile] leaves a stain that stays with you and it's very difficult to remove," he said.

Hayes, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of harassment without violence at an earlier hearing at Staines Magistrates' Court in December 2025.

On Friday, she was given a 12-month community order and fined £1,000 plus costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Her three-year restraining order includes restrictions on posting on social media.

Sullivan was never named in the posts, but people soon identified him as the target of what the police described as "vindictive" allegations.

These included claims he had numerous affairs, that he had a sexually transmitted disease, and that he had insulted his dying mother.

But worst of all was the unfounded suggestion that he had sent indecent images of children.

One person on a local community group responded: "He sounds like a disgusting man. If he's a paedo too, then he needs to be named and shamed."

Another responded: "Know any hitmen Debs?"

Sullivan said: "I don't believe there's anything worse a man can be accused of, personally. You know, I would rather be accused of murder than accused of that."

Not only did business plummet at his shop, but he was also shunned socially.

Schools who had regularly asked for free fish suppers as raffle prizes at Christmas, did not approach him for his support last December.

"Even if the school doesn't believe it [the allegation], they don't even want to be tainted by the possibility, and do you blame them? " he said.

"It would just cause trouble for them. And I totally understand that."

While he may say he accepts why people have responded the way they have, the false allegations have still taken their toll emotionally.

"It's had a massive effect. I mean, I don't mind saying that I went to a very, very dark place," said Sullivan who added he had been saved by friends and the support of The Samaritans.

"I was lost, I could see no way out."

Hayes' home, just over the border in Surrey, meant the police investigation fell to that county's force.

PC Aimee Worsfold said: "Hayes repeatedly made unfounded and serious comments that had the potential to do significant damage to another person.

"This investigation serves as a warning, in this age of living our lives online, that we cannot simply make baseless, thoughtless and malicious accusations about others. The impact can be considerable."

Colleagues of hers told Sullivan that he had suffered domestic abuse.

Hayes said: "I argued with them. I said, no, absolutely not. And they said, actually, you need to think about this, you have.

"It just, it makes you feel less of a man. It affects the way you think, all of a sudden, because I've never seen myself as a victim. Never.

"It's devastating, absolutely devastating."

Sullivan said the case had done little to bring him closure. He left court without answers as to why had had been targeted online, the way he was.

"I'll probably never get over it, to be honest. I'm a different person now.

"I'm a more closed person. I'm not outgoing, as outgoing as I was. It's really, really damaged me."

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.