← Back homeThe Sam Wall case · Inside track

Survived. Then she went to prison.

Four and a half years. Hundreds of posts. One 21,000 words long. A national news story that ended with a 28-month prison sentence and a judge calling the campaign "breathtaking."

This page is the inside track - the timeline, the coverage, and what it actually took to get here. It's tucked away on purpose. If you've found it, take your time.

"How do you prove a negative? That I had not poisoned the cat? Social media and the way it works - it's guilty until proven innocent."
Brad Burton - BBC Panorama, March 2025

The timeline

How it unfolded.

2019
A 30-second selfie at Aston Villa
Sam Wall attends one of Brad's workshops at Aston Villa Football Club. They chat for under two minutes, pose for a photo. She later leaves a glowing video testimonial. Brad describes it as unremarkable - one of thousands of people he meets a year.
2021
The first posts
Two years on, Wall begins posting about Brad on social media. The accusations escalate fast: that he's a manipulator, a psychopath, a sociopathic abuser. That he made death threats. That he broke her windows. That he poisoned her cat.
2021–2024
Hundreds of posts. One 21,000 words long.
Across X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn - the very platform Brad relies on for work. She claims he's been arrested and jailed. When he posts pictures to prove he's not, she invents a 'psychopathic twin' covering for him. A cease-and-desist is published online with the line that he could sue, but she has no money.
2024
Guilty plea
Wall pleads guilty at Manchester Magistrates' Court to charges of stalking and sending false messages. Sentencing is adjourned five times.
March 2025
BBC Panorama
The case becomes a national news story. Panorama airs an investigation featuring Brad and fellow victim Naomi Timperley, with other victims describing more than a decade of harassment. The film exposes how social media platforms refused to remove the posts, even after conviction.
24 October 2025
28 months
Sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court. 28 months in relation to the offences against Brad, 24 months for Naomi Timperley, served concurrently. Restraining order. All electronic devices surrendered. The judge: "Your name has become synonymous with online stalking." The campaign against Brad: "breathtaking."

Victim Personal Statement

Read in court, in tears.

Minshull Street Crown Court · 24 October 2025

It was devastating. All-consuming. For four and a half years my daily focus was dominated by dealing with her attacks.

A perfect storm - the pandemic, and her - meant I had to put my primary business, the one I'd spent over a decade building, into insolvency. When I did, she sneered. She gloated. She posted the records of the decision online for everyone to see.

Her intentional actions have damaged my career and invaded every aspect of my personal life.

How do you prove a negative? That you didn't poison a cat. That you don't have a psychopathic twin. That you weren't in prison the day she said you were. Social media is guilty until proven innocent - and the platforms I depended on to do my job became the weapon used against me.

This wasn't just about me. It hit my family. It hit my friends. It hit clients who didn't know what to believe. The damage doesn't stop the day a sentence is handed down.

But I'm still here. Still standing. Still doing the work.

Adapted from the statement read in open court and reported by the BBC, Manchester Evening News and BusinessCloud, October 2025.

Brad, in his own words

One of the darkest periods of my life.

I met her for less than two minutes. A selfie after a workshop. Two years later it started - and it didn't stop for four and a half years.

It cost me the network I'd spent a decade building. It cost relationships, sleep, and the simple ability to do my job on the platform I depended on. The pandemic hit hard. She helped sink it.

The reason this page exists isn't revenge. She's serving her sentence. The reason it exists is because 600,000 people a year report online stalking in the UK, and fewer than 2% of cases end in conviction. If you're in the middle of one of these stories, I want you to know two things: you're not making it up, and it can end.

I forgive her. I hope she gets the help she needs. And I'm still here - doing the work.

National coverage