Exposed on Facebook: 9 different stories

Major uproar last weekend when upcoming MI6-boss, Sir John Sawers, was accidentally exposed on Facebook by his wife. Details such as their London address, the whereabouts of their three children, and unflattering holiday beach photos, were disclosed on Ms. Sawers’ profile page which was -at the time- accessible to any of the 200 million Facebook users that were part or joined the London network.  Queue Michael Jackson’s “Just remember to always think twice” line from Billie Jean here.

This reminded me of Bono being “exposed” last year with his arms around two bikini-clad teenagers who uploaded their Saint Tropez holiday pictures to Facebook. Of course, Bono never crossed any line, but his wife might have the girls to thank for it: “For somebody who’s much older than I am … no thank you!“, they commented.

Some people even manage to expose themselves. Australian call centre employee Kyle Doyle who became an overnight celeb when his firm’s workforce manager read the following status update on Facebook: “Kyle Doyle is not going to work, fuck it i’m still trashed. SICKIE WOO!” The email exchange that followed can be read in detail here.

Throwing a sickie is harmless, but another call centre worker, Jan Long from North Tyneside, decided to bitch about her boss on Facebook, calling her a “superbitch” and a “fat f***”. Does anyone wonder why she got sacked in April?

Status updates can get worse than that, trust me. A few days after Ian Tomlinson died from being hit and pushed over by a policeman, veteran PC John Hayer wrote on Facebook: “I see my lot have murdered someone again. Oh well, s*** happens.” Hayter, 49, had to resign from the Royal Protection Unit shortly after he posted said status update.

While Facebook is useful for meeting and getting to know potential partners, it can be extremely damaging to relationships too. An Italian woman dumped her fiance a few days before their wedding after discovering a picture on Facebook of her Antonio fondling another girl’s boobs. To inform those without a Facebook account as well, she plastered posters of her ex-fiance all over Rome showing the Facebook picture under a message that included the words ”porco traditore”… that means “traitor pig”, in case you’re wondering.

Another relationship gone wrong: Martin Tickner decided to create a fake profile page and upload 16 naked pictures of his ex-girlfriend. He ended up in jail for 12 months, but his dry reaction was just: “I regret doing that with the pictures, but to be honest I regret meeting her in the first place.“

Even more horrifying, 34-year-old Wayne Forrester killed his wife Emma with a meat cleaver when she changed her relationship status on Facebook to single. He told police: “Emma and I had just split up… She then posted messages on a website telling everyone she had left me and was looking to meet men.” Forrester was jailed for life.

And who would’ve thought that after posting the status update “I feel like killin some1“, 19-year-old Leon Ramsden would actually go out and stab someone to death in a pub in Bolton. He was jailed for 17 years.

From a work sickie to murder, Facebook is helping people getting busted. Have you been caught on Facebook? We’d love to hear your stories!