POLICE are continuing to investigate how a teenage girl's witness statement appeared on Facebook.

The offending article has since been removed by the social networking site and the user's profile blocked, after the case was brought to their attention by The Herald last week.

On Friday, a Plymouth mother described how her young daughter was now terrified of giving evidence at the trial of a man accused of witness intimidation.

The prosecution was brought against the defendant after he allegedly posted threats to her daughter's life in the form of poems on his Bebo web page.

But then pictures clearly showing the teenager's witness statement – and the Restricted banner – were then posted on a Facebook profile page.

A Facebook spokesperson said it had initially removed the offensive photos on Thursday – but the profile user had immediately put them back up again.

The decision was then taken to remove the entire profile on Friday evening.

She added: "The profile user would have been sent a message explaining the violation when the photos were removed.

"This person ignored the warning and put the pictures back up again so we took the whole profile down."

She added: "The user profile has been removed for multiple violations of our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, the governing document for the site."

The girl's mother, whom The Herald is not naming, said she was glad the profile had been removed.

But she said she wished it had been taken down sooner, or never appeared in the first place.

She said: "Her evidence would have been given to the court anonymously by video link, but because of her statement being put online, everyone now knows her name.

"I hope whoever posted it is caught soon."

A spokeswoman for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary said no arrests had been made and the investigation is continuing.