A CROWN court judge has called for stricter rules on who can open a social media account after sentencing a stalker who created countless fake profiles to harass multiple women.

Matthew James Hardy, of Forest Place, Northwich, was sentenced to nine years at Chester Crown Court on January 26 by using social media to stalk people online.

He created fake profiles between April 2016 and August 2021, gathering information about his victims that would cause embarrassment and spreading lies to cause rifts between families and friends.

Speaking during the sentencing, Judge Steven Everett said while he wasn’t making an excuse for Hardy’s behaviour, social media companies should not be allowing people to continue to make fake profiles.

He called for stricter rules to be put in place.

Judge Everett explained: “There doesn’t seem to be any system for identifying when someone creates an account and it’s a fake account.

“Is it beyond the social giants to create that? I am convinced that they could.

“They should take a long hard look at themselves because I’m sure they don’t want people creating fake accounts on their sites.

“Consideration should be given to a way to look at such cases.

“I don’t see why something should not be done here.

“The one thing I see a lot of as a judge is the misuse of social media.”