Jail for 7 July victim's stalker

Rachel North survived the Russell Square Tube bombing

A cyber-stalker who carried out a "vicious, vitriolic and vindictive" harassment campaign against a 7 July bombing survivor has been jailed.

Victim Rachel North, 36, gave up her job to campaign for an independent inquiry into the bombings.

But Felicity Jane Lowde, 41, of Oxford, used her own blog and e-mail to harass Ms North, accusing her of "making a living on the backs of the dead".

She was jailed for six months, given a restraining order and an Asbo.

The Asbo is to last for five years.

Lowde told London's Thames Magistrates' Court she intends to appeal against her conviction.

"It has clearly been a difficult year for me and other victims Rachel North

The court heard Ms North, who survived the Russell Square Piccadilly Line bombing which killed 26 people, feared for her safety after more than 100 postings by Lowde.

Lowde was convicted of harassment in her absence when she failed to appear in court in April this year and went on the run.

Judge Malcolm Read told her that she had struck at Ms North's "terrible experience and trauma" as a victim of the London bombings with a "vicious, vitriolic and vindictive" campaign.

She then "aggravated" the situation by breaching her bail conditions and continuing to persecute Ms North even though police were involved.

Mr Read told Lowde: "The offences, I would say, are at the very top end to be taken in a prosecution of harassment and therefore have to be dealt with at the top end of my powers."

Lowde, who has a grown-up son, was charged under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 for the abuse waged at Ms North between May 2006 and January 2007.

Ms North said outside the court: "It has clearly been a difficult year for me and other victims. However as Ms Lowde has stated she is going to appeal, this process is not over, so I have no further comment to make."