US court forces man to apologise to estranged wife on Facebook

London, Feb 24 (ANI): A court in the US forced a man to post an apology on Facebook for 30 days, after he published a horrible comment about his wife on the social networking site.

Mark Byron took to the site to vent his feelings about his child custody battle with his estranged wife. However, in doing so, the photographer from Cincinnati, Ohio, breached a court order protecting his wife Elizabeth and their son.

Last year Byron was convicted of civil domestic violence against her.

In spite of the order, Byron took to Facebook to share his anger about the breakdown of his marriage and his child custody battle.

"If you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband's life and take your son's father away from him completely - all you need to do is say that you're scared of your husband or domestic partner and they'll take him away!" he wrote, according to local court records.

Consequently, Cincinnati magistrate Paul Meyers has forced Byron to apologise to his estranged wife on Facebook and keep the post on the site for 30 days, or face a 60-day prison term.

Byron posted the apology on February 13 - where it has to remain for the next 30 days.

He said that he finds posting comments on Facebook helps him air his frustrations in life.

"I post on Facebook to vent things... I liken it to having a drink in a bar with a friend and telling them how I feel," the Telegraph quoted him as telling WLWT, a television station in Cincinnati.

"On one hand, the court wants to stop me from saying something on Facebook, then it's telling me I have to (post) the pre-written apology," he said. (ANI)