Teen harassed via fake Facebook page, court told

A Rotorua teenager set up a fictitious Facebook account and used it to send nine "friend requests" to another teen he had previously tried to impersonate, a court has been told.

The teenager appeared in Rotorua District Court before Judge Chris McGuire for a defended hearing this week after pleading not guilty to a charge of criminal harassment.

He has been granted interim name suppression.

The complainant, whose identity is also suppressed, said in evidence he entered a competition last year which he won. When he failed to hear back about the prize he called the promoter and was told somebody using his name had been in contact.

"I was very upset and angry ... To have [the prize] almost taken away was pretty gutting."

The complainant said he had been friends with the accused for a few years and the teenager seemed to copy him quite often.

The complainant had started to distance himself from the teenager.

When the complainant found out it was the defendant who had contacted the competition organisers he wasn't surprised, he said.

"I got some vibe that he was trying to copy me and also take over me."

The court was told the defendant was dealt with by the courts last year in relation to that matter and was discharged without conviction as he was receiving counselling.

This year the complainant said he got a "friend request" from a person he didn't know and declined the request.

He was sent nine requests to be the person's friend and the complainant said he found the person's date of birth was the same as the defendant's and an email contact linked the Facebook account to his former friend.

The complainant said he was worried because he was aware the complainant had received counselling.

"It was quite worrying ... because if he didn't stop last time when will he stop and what will he do? I thought whether it would be an issue for the rest of my life."

While cross-examining the complainant, the defendant's lawyer, Brian Foote, said his client accepted he had set up the fictitious Facebook account and sent one friend request but no more.

When asked if he had any proof he was sent multiple friend requests, the complainant presented to the court a screen shot of his email account showing the nine online additions.

The police officer in charge of the case, Constable Robert Lyle, told the court that on May 20 this year the defendant was interviewed on video.

During the interview the teenager said that in late 2009 or early 2010 he had set up a Facebook account in the name of the complainant which had attracted about 30 to 50 friends.

He said it had since been de-activated.

When he was asked if he had set up a fictitious Facebook account and sent the complainant a friend request, the defendant said he wanted to end the interview and was not going to admit liability for anything at all.

He said it was a mistake doing the interview and asked if he had the ability to withdraw it.

"I don't like where this is going," the defendant told Mr Lyle.

Under cross-examination by Mr Foote, Mr Lyle said he accepted the teenager had since told him he had set up the fake Facebook account.

Mr Foote called one of his staff members to give evidence for the defence. She said she had tried to send multiple friend requests to someone but could only send one.

Judge Chris McGuire suppressed other details of the case and has reserved his decision.