A serial Facebook troll has spoken of the “living hell” he has experienced since getting out of prison and has pleaded with his own stalkers to leave him alone so that he can move on positively with his life.
Stewart McInroy, 24, said he had “learned his lesson” and had even given up his “addiction” to Facebook.
But he said he is being verbally abused daily in the street and had even resorted to having a panic alarm fitted at his flat following his release from Saughton Prison in Edinburgh on June 24.
McInroy was jailed last August after sending a series of sick messages to friends and family of missing Glenrothes man Allan Bryant Jr, claiming he had taken him hostage then “brutally tortured and murdered him”.
He was released in September last year having served half of a 10-month sentence.
But in November, just weeks after being freed and after admitting to The Courier he should have been imprisoned for longer, McInroy again took to Facebook to launch a campaign of abuse against his ex-girlfriend, threatening to hurt a dog and a small child if she did not contact him before claiming he would burn her house down.
A sheriff told McInroy: “There seems to be no reason for this other than badness.”
Contacting The Courier having been out of prison for almost three weeks, McInroy said he was “trying to lead a normal life” but was being “prevented from doing so” by assailants.
He said: “It’s been a living hell since I got out. If I go up to the shop I get abuse from people calling me a troll.
“I admit I should have been jailed for longer over the Bryant thing. I am not gloating about my freedom.
“My message to the Bryant family is that I’m sorry for my actions. I was a silly boy. But I deserve the chance to start again.
“People abusing me over Bryant is not going to help them find what happened to their son. This is ruining my life.
“My message is please leave me alone. Let me get on with my life. I’ve done my time. Let me move on.”
McInroy, who has suffered severe alcohol addiction problems in the past, confirmed his relationship with his ex-girlfriend was “definitely over”.
But he wanted it known that when he threatened to hurt a dog and a small child in a phone message to her, he was actually downloading the sounds from a phone app and not doing it for real.
He added: “I wanted to frighten her but maybe took it too far.”
McInroy said while in prison he had been trained how to build bikes that were then sold on to charity shops.
He said a placement was being lined up in Fife and he wanted the chance to pursue this with a view to securing a full-time job.