Kevin Murphy and Debbie Maidment were victims of a hoax saying they had missing April Jones, pictured right

by Lewis Dyson

A couple have spoken of their ordeal after a hoax message on Facebook claimed they had missing five-year-old April Jones.

Police searched Kevin Murphy and Debbie Maidment's home in Botany Close, Sheerness, on Sunday after comments appeared on the social networking site stating the Welsh schoolgirl was "safe" at their home.

The couple believe the hoax message is the latest attack in a five-year hate campaign orchestrated by an estranged member of Mr Murphy's family.

They first became aware something was wrong when a friend came round to tell them about the message, which had been posted on a Facebook group about the missing youngster, pictured below.

Officers arrived at their address at around 9.45pm and went through the entire property.

Mr Murphy, 43, said: "They just went through opening cupboards, searching everything down to the smallest carrier bag.

"It would have hampered the search because they don't need to be searching here when they could be spending time doing what they set out to do.

"How many hundreds of miles are we from Wales? I've never lived in Wales in my life."

They said a friend who called the police to defend the pair had her home searched as well.

Miss Maidment sent her 11-year-old daughter to stay with her sister because she was becoming distressed by people knocking on the door and the worry that someone would target the family.

Mr Murphy says the hoaxer uses false identities to spread malicious rumours.

He added: "It has just been a plague of prank calls. They have put on Facebook that I'm a paedophile, I'm a rapist, that I stab people with knives.

"When the old man that went missing from a home in Canterbury was in the news, they put on Facebook that we had him and the police came and searched my house for him."

Mr Murphy, who says he now sees more of the police than when he was a criminal, moved to Sheppey to get away from his old life after he served 11 years in prison for armed robbery.

He said he is now reformed and his criminal record is there for anyone to see.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "We are aware of a malicious hoax Facebook message claiming that missing April Jones is at an address in Kent. This is completely false and officers are making inquiries into the origins of this hoax."

Mark Bridger, 46, has been remanded in custody charged with the murder of April Jones, who has not been found, as well as abduction and perverting the course of justice. He appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates and is due to appear at Caernarfon Crown Court today.