Woman put message on social media naming a man and claiming he was a 'woman-beater'

In the Snapchat message, Seanine McCrea (25), of Hampton Crescent in Larne, had added: "Spread the word people".

McCrea, who had a previous record, admitted a charge of sending a message via a public communications network which was "grossly offensive" on October 9, 2020.

A prosecutor told Ballymena Magistrates' Court a man said to police the defendant had posted messages on Snapchat.

The court heard the defendant's message was accompanied by pictures of her apparently with "injuries".

The man who was named told police the comments were "false" and "made him feel annoyed and anxious," the prosecutor said.

A defence solicitor claimed McCrea had been assaulted but she had not made a complaint to police at the time "because she was on bail not to have any contact with him and she was concerned that by reporting it she would land herself in trouble".

Handing down a three months prison term, suspended for a year, District Judge Nigel Broderick said: "It is never acceptable, no matter what your sense of frustration, to engage in this type of behaviour."