Twitter troll's death shocks locals

Gerry and Kate McCann. Photo / AP

Residents of small, affluent village dismayed at loss of woman who criticised famous couple on social media.

The peaceful Leicestershire village of Burton Overy, with its thatched houses and picture-postcard church, is not used to scandal or tragedy. But in the past few days, the internet has brought both.

It is here that 63-year-old Brenda Leyland is alleged to have used her Twitter account to direct a stream of online abuse at the family of Madeleine McCann, the toddler who was snatched from her parents' holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.

What lay behind Leyland's anger toward Kate and Gerry McCann - a couple she had never met - may never be known. At the weekend she was found dead in a Leicester hotel room, two days after being unmasked by Sky News as one of a number of Twitter users reported to police for posting abusive messages about the McCanns. Police said they would be examining the circumstances surrounding and prior to Leyland's unexpected death. A Facebook campaign is already under way demanding that Sky News sack its crime correspondent, Martin Brunt, who confronted Leyland about her alleged online activities. Supporters said there was "little abusive about her tweets".

Most residents of the small, affluent village were reluctant to speak about the affair.

Student Alex Rankine, 21, said it was a strong community and that residents had been pretty shocked by the events of the past few days. He was surprised when he heard about the allegations against Leyland, but said: "It shows you can't make judgments based on where people live, what they're going to be like."

He also questioned why Sky News had chosen to unmask Leyland when others had been accused of the same crime. "It seems to me Sky have seen she lived in this picturesque village and thought it would make a good story, because there's a contrast. If it wasn't such a middle-class area, I don't feel like they would've confronted someone on their doorstep," he said.

Lindsay Waller-Wilkinson, who lived opposite Leyland for 11 years, said she spoke to her occasionally in the local pub and that she came across as an "educated" woman. "I was shocked, because it's not nice to think of anyone you know doing such things."

But she said Sky News had acted prematurely by approaching Leyland, leading to her being judged and "aggressively hounded" by the press.

"All I know is that she's been labelled a 'Twitter troll' and two days later she's dead. Although it's right people who behave irresponsibly should be called to account, there are ways we have in a civilised society of doing that. It's a modern version of stoning."

She said the affair had fuelled more vindictiveness towards the McCanns - the very thing Leyland had been accused of.

Not everyone laid the blame at the doors of the media. One man said he had heard Leyland "had some issues of her own. I didn't really know her, but she seemed a strange sort of character when you passed her on the street. I suspect she was a very lonely person."

He said he didn't blame Sky News. "Trolling is a disgraceful thing to do, whoever does it - it's just a shock that it's somebody from a place like this."

Sky News said: "We were saddened to hear of the death of Brenda Leyland. It would be inappropriate to speculate or comment further at this time."

- Telegraph Group Ltd