Man falsely accused of being pedophile threatened with acid attack on his girlfriend and sexual abuse of his cat

A man who was wrongly accused of being a pedophile and grooming girls has spoken out about how the subsequent online hunt ruined his life. 42-year-old Paul Amir Farhad, of Eastleigh, was accused of being a "violent psychopath" who "groomed teenagers and bullied women" by self-professed pedophile hunter Stephen Dure, and he says the fallout saw him lose his job, his friends, and even receive death threats.

According to The Sun, Dure accused Farhad of the pedophilia in retaliation to an online remark the 42-year-old made about his sister. In a Facebook post, Dure wrote Farhad was "violent psychopath" who was "known to allegedly groom teenagers and bully women" and a "massive danger to society." He also described Farhad as a "cretin" and asked people to share the post so he could be brought to justice.

His plan worked, and within hours, 111,000 people had seen the post. Farhad said the massive backlash he received saw him sacked from his job, his house spraypainted, a brick thrown through his window, and attempts made to petrol bomb his home, adding people also threatened his girlfriend and his pet.

"My girlfriend was really scared, someone said they were going to throw acid in her face," he told the Sun. "They were saying 'let's kills his cat', they had pictures of my cat, saying 'let's rape his cat'. "I thought ‘you're talking about raping my cat on a site on people grooming children, you're talking like a rapist yourself'."

Farhad continued, "I had no work, no money, I was literally on skid row and my girlfriend was really upset as well. “It affected my work as a lot of people were saying 'we don't want to take you on'. My boss said: 'I'd rather not speak to you about this. I've got nothing to say to you. If anyone asks you never worked for us'."

He also said the fallout from the accusations could have resulted in him even possibly dying. "I could have lost my life, because of him - if I’d been a weaker person I’d have killed myself," the 42-year-old revealed. "Anyone that hasn't helped me through this, anyone who doubted me I said 'you're not my friend anymore, goodbye and out my life'."

Dure — who runs an online group called TRAP which uses sting operations to catch pedophiles trying to meet with underage children — was later arrested and admitted to falsely accusing Farhad of grooming teenagers at the Southampton Magistrates' Court in August. He was jailed for 15 weeks by the presiding Judge Lorraine Morgan.

The Daily Mail reported that after his conviction, Dure claimed his actions were an example of him protecting his family. "I was being protective - we're a very close family," he was quoted saying. "I suppose it is a taste of my own medicine. I'm used to getting people to court, not being sat behind the glass. My name now will be muddied. I've had convictions before but only small things.

He added, "I said I was guilty in there because I don't have the evidence to prove my innocence."