Penny Mellor , 53 , ( pictured arriving at Chelmsford Crown Court today ) is accused of sending abuse online to anti-paedophile campaigner Shy Keenan . An anti-paedophile campaigner was bombarded with online messages claiming she lied in her bestselling misery memoir by a woman who had developed an 'obsession ' with her , a court heard . Penny Mellor , 53 , from Wolverhampton , West Midlands , allegedly attacked Shy Keenan through Twitter , emails and a blog , claiming she had fabricated an account of childhood sexual abuse . Ms Keenan , from Colchester , Essex , who describes herself as a justice campaigner , wrote a book in 2008 called Broken , where she told of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather . The revelation led to the conviction of Stanley Claridge and others in 2002 and Ms Keenan set up her own organisation , Phoenix Post , with campaigner Sara Payne , whose daughter was murdered . She also worked as a columnist for the Sun and revealed her early life on a BBC Newsnight programme . Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Mellor accused Ms Keenan of repeatedly lying in her book , claiming she was a fraudster and an attention seeker . Mellor denies stalking Ms Keenan and causing her serious alarm or distress between January 1 and 16 March 2013 by sending tweets , publishing statements about her in emails sent to work associates and carrying out a course of conduct which had a substantial effect on Ms Keenan 's day to day activities . Prosecutor Tony Abell , opening the case to the jury , said the law against cyber stalking via social media under which Mellor was being tried only came into effect in January 2013 . He said Mellor appeared 'to have developed something of an obsession with Shy Keenan and embarked upon a very personal campaign against her ' . He said the tweets were personal and offensive and continued : 'She has accused her repeatedly of lying in the book `` Broken '' . 'She has suggested Ms Keenan has groomed individuals , implied that she suffers from Munchausen 's By Proxy and referred to her post traumatic stress disorder . 'Emails contain private information which Shy Keenan regards as sensitive , including copies of marriage certificates , addresses and the like . ' Shy Keenan ( pictured ) wrote a book in 2008 called Broken , where she told of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather . Mellor allegedly claimed that Ms Keenan 'repeatedly lied ' in her book . Mr Abell said Ms Keenan felt concerned about her own and her family 's personal safety because the information might help other people with grudges against her . She had installed extra security and had had to go back on anti-depressants . The jury heard Mellor was a campaigner against false allegations of Munchausen by Proxy , where parents were the victims of false claims from their own children , for organisation Dare to Care . In 1998 to 1999 , Mellor and Ms Keenan were in close communication but they fell out . Ms Keenan thought that Mellor 's work might be offering support to real child abusers . The two women did n't have any contact again until late 2012 . Mr Abell said the trigger was Ms Keenan writing in her Sun column in October 2012 , following the Jimmy Savile scandal , that she had mentioned to Esther Rantzen many years before of rumours about his inappropriate behaviour . Shy Keenan ( right ) with Dr Sara Payne ( left ) , whose daughter was murdered by a paedophile , work together at her organisation , Phoenix Post . Mellor then began tweeting that Ms Keenan 'had told lies in her book Broken ' , said the prosecutor . Mellor emailed recipients including the BBC , Newsnight , the Sun , the Guardian , Broken 's publisher Hodder & Stoughton and Ms Keenan 's literary agent . She was appealing to them to 'investigate ' her claims of inaccuracies in Broken and sent 239 tweets from January to March 2013 . Mellor is to have accused Ms Keenan of 'lying and cheating for years ' and that she 'cons everyone and hides behind that abuse ' . The court heard she described the graphic abuse Ms Keenan wrote about in her book as 'titillation ' for paedophiles and not the sort of thing a mother should publish for her own children to read . Mellor wrote that Ms Keenan 'seeks attention , she needs to be adored and revered in order to get money ' , the jury was told . 'That 's a flavour of the sort of bile which was coming out of Penny Mellor over this period , ' said Mr Abell . ' It sought to attack Ms Keenan 's credibility as a victim of sexual abuse , causing her distress and concern by revealing personal information . Mellor was given a verbal warning by Essex Police in December 2012 but after a brief respite , the cyber attacks began again in January . She was arrested on 15 March 2013 and told police her motive was to get Ms Keenan to stop what she was doing . The trial , which is expected to last about two weeks , continues . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
Penny Mellor , 53 , allegedly attacked Shy Keenan through emails and blog . Ms Keenan wrote book where she told of sex abuse she suffered as a child . Court heard Mellor accused her of being a fraudster and repeatedly lying . Campaigner is accused of sending 239 abusive tweets and several emails . She denies stalking Ms Keenan and causing her serious alarm or distress .