After her son was taken from her care, a Dunedin mother took her frustrations with Oranga Tamariki online.
Susan Lois Cooper's vitriolic Facebook posts resulted in her being prosecuted under the Harmful Digital Communications Act - the relatively new cyber-bullying legislation.
The 37-year-old had been in contact with an Oranga Tamariki social worker between May and August last year after concerns were raised about the care protection of the defendant's son.
In November, the child was placed in the custody of another family member.
"Since October 2017 the defendant became actively aggressive towards the victim in phone calls and was writing hateful posts on Facebook about the victim," a police summary said.
Defence counsel Debbie Henderson said her client's anger grew "to the point where she just blew".
It resulted in Cooper making a series of Facebook posts.
The first called the victim "an evil bitch" and made threatening remarks about her.
Minutes later, Cooper offered personal details about the woman, including her address, family details and contact details to anyone who wanted them.
She included a screen shot of the victim's Facebook profile.
When approached by police about the posts, Cooper wanted to know how the woman knew they had been put online.
"This was calculated to cause your victim harm and damage, concern and worry, emotional stress and similar such matters," Judge Kevin Phillips said in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
The victim's employer offered her a special car park to allay her fears of retribution and she did not dare go out in public with her grandchildren, the judge said.
"You say it was out of frustration," he said.
"It was out of your desire to hurt someone who was doing no more than her job."
He would have liked to order compensation for the victim but Cooper was unemployed and had no means to pay.
Cooper's previous convictions for violence and breaching court orders, were "ancient" and he put them aside.
He sentenced Cooper to three months' community detention (on a 7pm-7am curfew) and nine months' supervision.
"If you were to breach the sentence I've imposed or in any way repeat your actions against this victim you will go to prison," Judge Phillips said.
