Woman sentenced for sending death threats to the producer and presenter of Countdown
A woman has been jailed for sending death threats and offensive messages to the producer and a presenter of the television show Countdown.
Laura Greenwood, 42, of Bedford Street South in Toxteth, Liverpool was a contestant on the show in March 2013, under the name Rachel Moran.
Shortly after her appearance, she sent several letters to the show’s then producer,Damian Eadie, containing unfounded claims that he had ruined her life and she was struggling with her mental health.
There was no further contact from Greenwood until December 2023, some 10 years later, via a “Contact Us” form on Channel 4’s website.
The comments were signed “Laura Greenwood” In these comments, she called Mr Eadie various offensive names and made threats to assault him.
Her comments became increasingly abusive to both Mr Eadie and the then presenter of the show, Rachel Riley, including multiple threats to kill them both. Greenwood accused both of ruining her life and blamed her appearance on the show for a significant deterioration in her mental health.
The communications were reported to the police in July 2024. Due to other matters that she had before the court, Greenwood was not interviewed until December 2024.
She was charged with three counts of sending an electronic communication which conveyed a threat for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety, contrary to the Malicious Communications Act 1988, and three counts of sending a message that conveyed a threat of death, contrary to the Online Safety Act 2023.
She pleaded guilty to all six counts at the first hearing of the case at Liverpool Magistrates Court on 19th June 2025.
On 17 July 2025 at Liverpool Crown Court, she was jailed for six months. This sentence was added to the 2 years and 8 months she is currently serving for an unconnected offence of arson.
The Crown Prosecution Service also applied for a restraining order to prevent Ms Greenwood ever contacting Mr Eadie or Ms Riley.
This was granted by the court for the rest of Greenwood's life.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Matthew Dixon of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “These sorts of abusive and threatening communications are criminal and should never be seen as ‘just messages’.
“The Crown Prosecution Service treats any threat to life, no matter how it was sent or received, extremely seriously.
“The victims of these offences felt genuine fear for their personal safety. Numerous safeguarding measures had to be put in place to protect them from what they perceived to be a direct threat to their lives.
“Online actions have real-world consequences. We are grateful to both of the victims for coming forward and supporting these prosecutions.”