A mother of one, Kirsty Crooks, is now finally free after Wednesday’s contested hearing at Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast, which acquitted her of a single charge of unauthorized access to computer material.
In the previous year, she reportedly caught her on-off boyfriend, Stephen Hollywood, with explicit images of other women sent to a relative on his Snapchat. So, Mr. Hollywood sued her for illegal access to computer material.
As per Wednesday’s court hearing, Kirsty Crooks and Mr. Hollywood have been in a relationship since 2020, and they broke up in 2023 after he dumped her.
However, at the time of the shocking discovery, her ex, Mr. Hollywood, tried to win her back, but the pictures gave her answers.
In the court, Kirsty Crooks stated, “It didn’t make sense when he broke up with me. It was a rollercoaster after that. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to be with me or not.” So, she chose to give it a look before taking him back into her life and found shocking information.
Kirsty Crooks’s ex-boyfriend, Stephen Hollywood, had given her the password for his Facebook account!
Revealing evidence, Kirsty Crooks told the court that Stephen Hollywood handed her permission to access the account as he shared his password with her.
She further stated that Mr. Hollywood tried to get back together for months and kept pursuing her with constant messages and meet-up requests despite her clear signs of rejection.
Given her predicament, she chose to look at his account, as she already had permission from him with the shared password.
Kirsty Crooks said, “You don’t do that if you don’t want someone to access your things. He was well aware I had access to his Snapchat and was only concerned when he found out I had discovered images of these two girls on there.“
❤️👫 pic.twitter.com/JM6pyA5PIn
— Kirsty Crooks (@_kirstycrooks) February 15, 2017
She further elaborated that they had access to each other’s devices because they shared Facebook passwords, allegedly after somebody hacked her account.
Kirsty Crooks also revealed that Mr. Hollywood had “watched” her on an indoor security camera at her home, which he admitted in court.
Moreover, he also admitted to sharing explicit images of women on his Snapchat with a relative. However, disagreeing with Kirsty’s statement, he said, “I never gave her permission to access my Snapchat. I couldn’t have because I didn’t know the password.“
He also explained that he used the security camera to check the dog’s welfare, which the couple once shared.
After hearing both sides of the story, District Judge Anne Marshall made the verdict acquitting Kirsty Crooks that she did not buy Mr. Hollywood’s side of the story and instead was “startled” by his admission that he had used his ex’s security camera.
Additional Information
- Judge Anne Marshall’s verdict was, “I do not find him credible, and I do have a doubt about the prosecution case. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt, acquitting her, and that’s that.”
- After clearing the charges, Kirsty Crooks left the court with a relieved smile and high-fiving friends and relatives.
