A journalist who faced rape and death threats for covering a court case has revealed she “put off” taking legal action against her abusers because it would have meant detectives taking her work equipment.

Leeds Live court reporter Stephanie Finnegan was issued with a panic alarm by publisher Reach plc after covering the ‘Tommy Robinson’ contempt of court case in 2018.

Stephanie, pictured, received rape and death threats after she challenged an order made at Leeds Crown Court barring any mention of court proceedings involving the far-right leader.

She has now revealed she decided not to pursue legal action at the time due to privacy concerns over handing over her work devices to police for evidence, as well as the inconvenience of losing them, but says she “wouldn’t hesitate” to cooperate should a similar situation occur again.

Speaking out after the UK Government launched a national action plan to protect journalists, Stephanie urged fellow reporters to cooperate with police investigations when they experience abuse

In a statement, she said: “Journalists in this era face all kinds of online abuse for doing a public service, from accusations of fake news on even basic stories to doxing and death and rape threats for politically divisive content – not to mention physical attacks that take place in person.

“It’s particularly worse for female and BAME journalists, who are often targeted purely because of their appearance and/or skin colour.

“Unfortunately I was put off taking legal action against the people who threatened me because the police initially wanted to take my devices for evidence, but if it happened again I wouldn’t hesitate to cooperate in order to see them brought to justice.”

Stephanie went on to cite the case of Joshua Gibbs, who was jailed last year for threatening to castrate and kill Liverpool Echo political editor Liam Thorp, as an example of a journalist abuser being brought to justice.

She added: “It’s been discouraging to see the biggest social media platforms find so many reports of abuse unproblematic.

“While it is reassuring to know that Reach issued me with a panic alarm and newspapers like the Sunday Life at home in Belfast can provide their reporters with bulletproof windows and doors, it is more worrying to know that our biggest protectors are often the companies we work for.

“I welcome the long overdue action plan that is being introduced and sincerely hope that it will amount to more than just empty words from all the authorities and companies involved.”