Sascha Bailey’s fashion photographer girlfriend has revealed how she was harassed by a YouTuber for three years – and threatened with hitmen and pictures of knives.
Lucy Brown, 33, began to receive unwanted emails from far-right internet personality Andrew Cooper in 2020, after he approached her under the guise of an investment opportunity.
He sent her a contract to sign, which she didn’t understand, and had her come to his house to work during lockdown.
His ‘weird’ behaviour unnerved her and she told him she didn’t feel safe anymore after he wanted her to watch The Secretary – a film about a BDSM relationship between an employer and a female employee.
From that point, he embarked on a three-year tirade of harassment against Lucy, her father and her friend – posting angry, exploitative-filled rants on YouTube.
The 33-year-old – who is the partner of Sascha Bailey, the son of legendary snapper David Bailey – received hundreds of emails from Cooper every day threatening her.
Lucy also previously worked for far-right activist Tommy Robinson before a falling out in 2018. She has since disassociated herself from Robinson.
Lucy Brown pictured with her boyfriend, Sascha Bailey, in October 2023
Andrew Cooper outside of High Wycombe Magistrates Court in April
Lucy Brown and Sascha Bailey attend Alistair Guy’s birthday in December 2023
In disturbing videos seen by , Cooper ranted about her and titled them ‘For Lucy Brown the con woman and liar’ and ‘Dirty Lucy ‘.
At one point, she said Cooper – who claimed to be a multimillionaire – threatened to hire a hitman and sent her photos of bolt cutters and a table full of knives.
He went on to call her his ‘surrogate daughter’ and he wanted to ‘baby sit’ her.
Cooper was given a 12-week sentence suspended for two years, a restraining order and 150 hours community service after appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on February 8 for three counts of harassment without violence.
But Lucy found herself wondering why it took so long to get to this point, and said she felt the police weren’t taking her seriously.
The photographer told : ‘He had been following my career on YouTube for a while and in 2020 there was a bit of a slump and he emailed me saying he was an investor.
‘Before I knew it he was giving me a contract to sign which I didn’t completely understand and later came back to haunt me.
‘In lockdown I was going back and forth to this geezer’s house. He started saying some abusive things, and in October 2020 I sent him an email saying I didn’t feel safe anymore. Then the harassment continued right up to one day before the sentencing.
‘I wasn’t online, I wasn’t encouraging it. It’s like he didn’t want to let me go – like a parasocial relationship. ‘
Shown are extracts from emails sent to Lucy, her father and her friend
The photographer – whose work has featured in British Vogue – said she first reported Cooper’s harassment to Thames Valley Police in 2020, and she decided to limit her online presence as much as she could.
She said the case was dropped after the initial report – but no one told her.
She continued: ‘It just got worse and worse. I reported it to the police but I think at some point all my emails must have been going straight to the Junk folder.
‘I eventually phoned up and they asked if I wanted to reopen the case. I didn’t know it had been closed. I said yes and had to re-explain everything again.
‘The police treated it as if it was wishy-washy and dismissive. It was hundreds of emails a day. But there was no action by the police.
‘It wasn’t until April 2021 that he was visited by officers. They never visited me – the first time I saw them was three years after it started and it went to court.
‘It became a running joke with me and my friends, ‘oh it’s the one year anniversary’ because the police were dragging their feet.
‘I felt like they were judging me. I never really knew what was going on. It felt like they were telling me off and were annoyed, making me feel bad. But I was locking the doors at night and having panic attacks.’
Sascha Bailey and Lucy Brown pictured at photographer Alistair Guy’s new exhibition at House Of Swaine in September 2023
Cooper was given a 12-week sentence suspended for two years, a restraining order and 150 hours community service after appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on February 8
Emails sent to Lucy, her father and her friend are filled with swear words and accusations
Lucy was left fearing for her life after he send her a picture of a table full of knives
A screenshot of bolt cutters, sent to Lucy from Cooper over text
Cooper called Lucy his ‘surrogate daughter’ in text messages and emails
She said her emails to the police became ‘desperate’ as she pleaded to be contacted or to talk to a ‘human being’.
The photographer told she felt like she was working as her own ‘private investigator, lawyer and therapist’.
Lucy said she developed PTSD and felt she had to leave the country out of fear of Cooper’s harassment, who she said ‘fancies himself as ‘god-like’ and often referenced Satanism and referred to himself as ‘Daemon’ or ‘demon’.
At one point she was house-sitting her parents’ home in Cambridge, but she was so terrified of being home alone that she took a kitchen knife and locked herself in a bedroom upstairs.
She said that she continues to have nightmares about Cooper and remains ‘fearful of men in general’.
In an eight-month window, Lucy counted over 700 emails from Cooper – on top of the videos posted to his YouTube channel, Daemonlinks.
Over 60 videos, each between a few seconds and a minute long, show Cooper speaking to the camera in a low, monotone voice about Lucy and her father.
Some of these include recorded conversations with Lucy where he confronts her about her feeling uncomfortable and unsafe.
One video is titled ‘Why would I ever stop coming after you?’
He says to the camera: ‘Why would I ever stop coming after you when you’ve lied about me relentlessly for two-and-a-half years, only to obtain money? I’m going to warn other people about you.’
In the videos, he claims to be a ‘self-made millionaire’ and that people are coming after his money.
Many of the videos appear to be addressed directly to Lucy or her family and friends, with Cooper repeatedly using their full names, posted across multiple channels.
Shown are extracts from some of the emails sent to Lucy from Cooper
When Cooper was finally sentenced for harassment, Lucy experienced a panic attack in the courtroom.
She left the room to calm down, but she claims officers from Thames Valley Police followed her into a stairwell and told her ‘calm down, or I’ll arrest you’, until her boyfriend was forced to intervene.
The photographer explained: ‘The cherry on top was when they threatened me with arrest. Saying to someone you know is vulnerable ‘calm down or I’ll arrest you’ is insane.
‘They were staring at my self-harming on my arms and smirking. It felt like they were trying to goad me into having a panic attack so they could arrest me.
‘It felt like they were holding it against me, that the scale of the harassment was so big they were disgruntled they had to do so much work.
‘Driving away from court, I just felt disbelief. I asked my boyfriend ‘did that really just happen?’
Even though the court case has concluded, Lucy said the damage to her life, work and mental health is ‘irreparable’.
She told that Cooper contacted her the week after he was sentenced and given the restraining order.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: ‘Thames Valley Police does not comment about complaints, as it would be inappropriate to do so.
‘The force has a complaints procedure, which allows members of the public to make a complaint about the force or a member of our workforce.’
Cooper isn’t the only far-right personality Lucy has had issues with.
For six years, she’s been ‘targeted by alt-right stalkers’ and says that ‘like a cult’, they try to stop people – especially women – from leaving.
Lucy found herself drawn into that world through the ‘YouTube algorithm’ – adding that she knows she was an unlikely figure to be attracted to that world, as someone from a ‘liberal background in fashion’.
Tommy Robinson arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London in 2021
Tommy Robinson speaks as he leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, in 2022
She described how she used her creative skills to leverage her way into a ‘position of influence.
This led to her working for Tommy Robinson for the Rebel Media company in Canada, collaborating with several high-profile activists before she left in 2018 after falling out.