A Sydney labourer who made dozens of vile comments towards women on Facebook has become a "far greater victim" to online abuse, a court has heard.
In a case that his defence barrister compared with the media attention given to Harriet Wran's, Zane Alchin, 25, was on Friday convicted of one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Alchin, from Sydney's south, left more than 50 public comments, most of them violent and obscene towards women, over a two hour period on a Facebook thread in August 2015.
The torrent of abuse came after a screenshot of a Sydney woman's Tinder dating profile was uploaded to Facebook and publicly mocked by another man, Chris Hall, who has not been charged.
Alchin's barrister Sophie Walsh said her client had drunk half a bottle of bourbon and was "on a mission to offend" when he left the comments in a bid to defend Mr Hall.
Ms Walsh said that Alchin had since become the "poster boy" of the "vile troll" and had himself been subject to ongoing abuse and threats from people around the world.
"It is similar to the Wran case to the extent of the misreporting that has occurred," Ms Walsh told Sydney Downing Centre Local court.
"The irony is that he has become a far greater victim to the crime that he has pleaded guilty too....they were the first victim but this has sky rocketed out of control."
Wran, the daughter of former state premier Neville Wran, was this week sentenced to a minimum of two years jail after being convicted of robbery in company and accessory after the fact to murder.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Ian Harrison was critical of the "sustained and unpleasant campaign" against Wran in some sections of the media.
Alchin was arrested after one of the women who he directed his abuse at, Paloma Brierley Newton, 24, took screenshots of his comments and handed them to police.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment.
In handing down his sentence, Magistrate William Pierce said Alchin's contribution to an already-heated Facebook discussion was comparable to king hitting someone during a game of football where players had only "consented to a few bumps".
Magistrate Pierce, however, said Alchin had "experienced a great deal of pain" which he did not deserve and warned him about the "whirling maelstrom of hate" online.
In an agreed statement of facts, Alchin admitted to police that he posted the abuse but said "he was drunk at the time and the comments do not represent what he is about".
He said he was "internet trolling" and did not know it was crime, according to the court documents.
Referring to one graphic post Alchin said: "I got it off an anti-feminist website. To offend a group of feminists that were harassing me and my friends."
