Brit faces jail for online death threats

A man who published a bounty offer on the web, in which he promised to pay $25,000 to anyone who would "terminate" a Texan couple, has today been found guilty of threatening to kill.

The man - an English engineer - could now face a jail sentence. The trial finished today at the Winchester Crown Court, but the judge will not pass sentence until psychologists complete a report to determine the appropriate punishment for the defendant. The man had a romantic interest in one of the two people he threatened to kill. His interest in the woman developed during electronic correspondence, according to the defendant. Dr Neil Barrett, a computer forensic specialist called in as a witness, said: "This case may well be first of its kind, but it shows that email harassment is a serious crime and we will see more of these cases soon." The defendant was found not guilty on two further counts of conspiring to solicit to murder and soliciting to murder.