A chip shop owner’s business was ruined after his vengeful ex-girlfriend falsely branded him as a paedophile during a campaign of online harassment after they separated.
Mark Sullivan, 64, from Hampshire, said his reputation was left in tatters and he was shunned by his community after Deborah Hayes, 58, cruelly branded him a paedophile on Facebook.
The pair got together in 2018 after meeting at a charity event and Hayes moved in with Mr Sullivan the following year.
He said they loved each other, had a ‘wonderful relationship’ and would go to lots of events together, but they went through a ‘rough patch’ in 2023 which saw him ask her to move out in January 2024.
Later that year, Mr Sullivan’s mother fell ill and he began spending as much time with her as he could.
In January 2025, he was told that his mother did not have long to live and she sadly passed away in November that year.
Whilst he was caring for his sick mother, Hayes became ‘frustrated’ that he was spending less time with her.
After seven and a half years together, Mr Sullivan told her over the phone he felt they should just be friends.
Mark Sullivan, 64, from Hampshire, pictured with his ex Deborah Hayes, 58, who falsely branded him a paedophile after he ended their relationship
The fake allegations led to a drastic reduction in business at Big Fry Fish and Chips, which has two sites in Farnborough, Hampshire, and Egham, Surrey
In response, she hung up on him and began messaging his children and ex-wife alleging he was a paedophile and called his children a ‘disgrace’ for letting him see his grandchildren.
Hayes also started messaging his friends, sent friend requests to anyone she thought knew him and made posts in local community Facebook groups saying: ‘There is a paedophile running a business in the area.’
She also said he had STDs, had affairs and suggested he had sent indecent images of children online.
One person left a comment asking if she knew ‘any hit men’ and said paedophiles need to be ‘named and shamed’.
‘Anyone knows that you can’t put anything even remotely risqué on Facebook. It is the most ridiculous allegation you could make,’ he said.
While Mr Sullivan was never named, people in the area soon identified him as the subject leading to a drastic reduction in business at Big Fry Fish and Chips, which has two sites in Farnborough, Hampshire, and Egham, Surrey.
Local schools who had always offered him hundreds of raffle tickets cancelled their collaborations with him.
He found out immediately and thought she was ‘just angry’ following their breakup but just wanted to focus on his mother who was his ‘main priority’.
He said: ‘The people who were commenting were young mums and they didn’t want their children going into a business run by someone like that.
‘I had calls from people asking if it was true.
‘It was particularly hurtful because no one in the area thought to ask about the truth of the allegations. It just piled up.’
However, Hayes took things even further when she made a third post on Facebook divulging private medical details about Mr Sullivan’s children who said they would step in if he continued to do nothing about it.
Hayes pleaded guilty to harassment without violence at Staines Magistrates’ Court last month
The reason Hayes made such extreme false allegations is still a ‘mystery’ to Mr Sullivan
He said that was when ‘the implications hit me’ and he called the police who arrested Hayes and charged her with harassment in May 2025.
‘I offered the police my phone and my laptop as I had nothing to hide,’ he said.
Hayes pleaded guilty to harassment without violence at Staines Magistrates’ Court last month.
She was handed a three-year restraining order, which includes restrictions on social media posts, and a 12-month community order.
She was also ordered to pay a £1,000 fine, £85 in costs, and a £114 victim surcharge.
Mr Sullivan said: ‘The sentence doesn’t matter to me as no one wins in this case. It’s only losers.
‘I didn’t feel any satisfaction and have become quite withdrawn since then.’
The grandfather-of-two said being wrongly branded as a paedophile is ‘the worst thing you can be accused of as a man’.
He said his chip shops are still struggling, adding: ‘This left a stain that will stay with me for life’.
The relationship he had with his children has also been damaged and ‘will never be the same’.
Mr Sullivan said the ordeal made him ‘withdrawn’ and saw him contemplate ending his own life in the summer of 2025.
‘I rarely go out these days and it was very difficult for me to get help. I contemplated suicide at one point,’ he said.
He credited domestic abuse charity Your Sanctuary for helping him access mental health support.
The reason Hayes made such extreme false allegations is still a ‘mystery’ to Mr Sullivan.
He said: ‘There were disagreements, but nothing horrendous. It was not a violent relationship.
‘We had a lovely life and we went to lots of lovely events. We had a busy, full life.
‘I loved this woman and I know she loved me, but this doesn’t make sense.
‘We discussed everything and had a sacred trust. Even now, I would never break that trust.
‘She spilled everything. She put everything she knew about me on Facebook.’
PC Aimee Worsfold from Surrey Police said: ‘Hayes repeatedly made unfounded and serious comments on her Facebook profile that had the potential to do significant damage to another person.
‘This investigation serves as a warning in this age of living our lives online that we cannot simply make baseless, thoughtless and malicious accusations about others. The impact can be considerable.’