A mother snapped and joined in a revenge attack on a man after he made vile comments about her severely disabled daughter on the networking site Facebook, a court heard.

Sylvia Hooper, her son Robert and his friend Soloman Taylor confronted Christopher Berwick outside his home in Chatham.

Mrs Hooper, 52, ordered "hit him" and her 19-year-old son punched Mr Berwick in the face, leaving an imprint of his sovereign ring.

The victim was then taken by car to their home, made to crawl into the house and apologise to Mrs Hooper's daughter, Kim Arnold, who suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.

The three, all of Heathfield Close, Chatham, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm. They denied false imprisonment and not guilty verdicts were entered.

They were spared custody on Friday after a judge said the messages sent by Mr Berwick were "disgraceful and shameful".

catharine donnelly, for mrs hooper, said the mother was in poor health, suffering from diabetes and cataracts. she was soon to be admitted to hospital to determine whether she needed an amputation.
“she is a decent woman who has devoted herself to her daughter,” said miss donnelly. “she has led a decent and law-abiding life.”
the vicious and cruel comments mr berwick made about miss arnold, added miss donnelly, were “simply beyond the pale”.
danny moore, for robert hooper, told the judge: “mr berwick likes to get his kicks by pretending to be someone else and by playing mind games with a severely disabled young lady and then abusing her to such an extent it put her into serious depression.
“human beings only have so much of a level before they are unwilling to take any more abuse. it was reported to the police but they said they could not do anything about it.”

Because of the exceptional circumstances, he said, Mrs Hooper could be dealt with by way of a conditional discharge.

Her son and Taylor, also 19, were given community orders.

Prosecutor Neil Sandys said Mr Berwick used a false Facebook account to call Miss Arnold a cripple and other abuse on July 24 last year.

He at first tried to put the blame on his now ex-girlfriend but eventually admitted being responsible.

"This Facebook exchange was low, mean, base and shameful," Mr Sandys told Maidstone Crown Court.

"Nevertheless, it could never amount to an excuse to take matters into your own hands."

The day after the messages were sent Mrs Hooper and the two youths drove to Mr Berwick's home.

After being assaulted he was "invited" to go with them to apologise to Miss Arnold.

"When the car was opened, he was required to crawl on his hands and knees into the house," said Mr Sandys.

"Once in the living room, he was required to make a grovelling apology, still on all fours, to Miss Arnold, who was seated on the sofa.

"At some point Mr Taylor hit him with a rolled up newspaper to the chin with no real force. He was driven back."