A middle-aged man who switched from calling a woman 'gorgeous' to a 'fat c***' when she rejected him has been banned from social media by his parents.
Joanne Barber (name changed), 22, received a message out of the blue on social media last week from a 42-year-old man named Ben, who asked her if she wanted to go for a drink after spotting they had a mutual friend.
He told her he was sure they could have 'loads of fun as long as you're not up your own arse and think you're better than you are as that babe is the downfall of pretty girls'.
After politely declining his request and telling Ben he wasn't her type, his quickly switched to telling her she would look 'rough as f*** without makeup' and called her a 'fat c***'.
As Joanne attempted to explain that she simply didn't want to date him, the tirade of abuse continued, including branding her a 'cheap sl*g', 'sad state' and 'arrogant'.
The conversation went on and Joanne then publicly shamed Ben by sharing the exchange on Facebook, warning other girls in the area about him, and saw the post liked more than 2,200 times.
It forced Ben to quickly return with a grovelling apology, but it was rejected as Joanne hoped it would show him to be a 'vile and disgusting man'.
After the post went viral, Ben's father said that he and his mother had taken away his social media 'even though he is 42 years of age' as they realised the 'severity' of what he had done.
Joanne, who works as a sales assistant, said: "I didn't know him beforehand. He was just a random guy who tried adding me. I deleted the add.
"We had mutual friends because he lives nearby but I deleted it because I didn't know him.
"He messaged me three or four times before I finally responded. Even the message before I responded was him saying, 'oh, I hope you're not one of those stuck-up girls'.
"I responded like, 'I'm not stuck-up because I don't want to date you. I don't want to date you because you're 42 and 20 years older than me and you're not my type'.
"It's my right to say no. It's anyone's right to say no. If a guy got the same message from a girl and she wasn't his type, why should he go on a date with her? It was a constant back and forth.
"After I called him out, he messaged me from a different account he made because he deleted his Facebook saying I had ruined his life and it should be taken down.
"He just wasn't getting it. He wasn't getting the point. He can't do this to girls. It's not okay. It's creepy and disgusting.
"He turned out to be nasty. He called me the c-word, he called me stuck up. I was like, alright then, do what you wanna do. If you want to blow off some steam then blow off some steam.
"It's better that he does it to me than some girl who is going to feel sorry for him. Someone more insecure or upset by it might actually give in.
"It was the amount of messages from girls who had had similar experiences - it was haunting."
Joanne said she receives similar messages fairly regularly, and it often turns nasty after saying no.
She says it happens on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, and she has called out other guys before but none had blown up on social media the way it did with the exchange with Ben.
She added: "He was getting more vicious with it and made a racist comment. I decided to put him on Facebook. At the end of the day people need to see who he actually is. He's not a nice guy.
"After doing this to girls and going through his messages, I knew he was not a nice man. He's done it before and he's not going to stop doing it.
"I put it up as more of a deterrent and to teach him a lesson. He's 42 years old, grow up. I wouldn't expect this from a guy my age, let alone someone old enough to be my dad."
Ben confirmed he had offered Joanne a full apology but argued that a lot of the story had been 'fabricated'.
He said: "It has been blown up to all proportions with me receiving threats, etc etc. That's all I will say on the matter. It has come across as a bit of a witch hunt to be fair."
Ben's father later said: "I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience [for Joanne].We have now taken all the media off him.
"He has no defence. It was done in a fit of drunken temper. It was done in a fit of irresponsibility. We realise that. We realise the severity of it.
"We have been in touch with the young lady and told her that we have taken all the social media off Ben even though he is 42 years of age."
