Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Bardrick/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

This case was initially dealt with by an email to a checkuser per the procedure for dealing with logged out editing detailed at WP:LOGOUT. However since then it has been dealt with publicly, see Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive1020 and the subsequent discussion at User talk:Bardrick. The behaviour detailed as problematic by the blocking admin here has continued, specifically long-term edit warring and persistent logged out editing. The two ranges above are seemingly exclusively used by Bardrick, both have been subjected to lengthy blocks to try and make Bardrick edit while logged in only. Bardrick has not edited using their account since 4 October, they have continued to edit while logged out.

At Nicholas Rowe (actor) they have been involved in a sporadic edit war since November 2018 that has flared up again this month, attempting to change "Scottish" to "British" or "English":


 * 3 November 2018 - Bardrick changes "Scottish" to "English"
 * 29 January 2019 - IP changes "Scottish" to "British"
 * 7 May 2019 - IP changes "Scottish" to "British"
 * 1 March 2020 - IP changes "Scottish" to "English"
 * 18 March 2020 - IP changes "Scottish" to "British"

There's never been any attempt to discuss this. I brought this up in my original email, but it's probably relevant to mention it here also - Bardrick doesn't discuss edits. In the eight years they have been editing using their account, they have made 10,489 edits, only 16 of them to article talk pages and the last one actually discussing article content was in April 2016. They have also made 56 posts to user talk pages, 35 of them to their own and the last one to anyone else's talk page was December 2015. Similar analysis for the IP ranges 89 and 84 show no article talk page posts during the time Bardrick has been using the ranges, and only this post to a user talk page.

Common articles since November 2019 to demonstrate the IPs are obviously Bardrick.


 * Michael Argyle (judge) edited by 84.13.176.29 and Bardrick
 * Lewis Collins edited by 84.13.176.29 and Bardrick
 * Generation X (band) edited by 84.13.182.72 and extensively by Bardrick, 696 of their edits are to that page
 * Robin Day edited by 84.13.180.228 and Bardrick
 * Danny Kustow edited by 84.13.179.227, 89.243.100.207 and Bardrick
 * Coronation Stone, Kingston upon Thames edited by 89.243.101.104 and Bardrick
 * Louis Bols edited by 89.243.96.38, 89.243.98.49 and Bardrick
 * Hubert Gough edited by 89.243.102.18 and Bardrick
 * Roland Freisler edited by 89.243.102.18 and Bardrick
 * Ernie Terrell edited by 89.243.98.49 and Bardrick
 * Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby edited by 89.243.102.138 and Bardrick
 * Earl Rhodes edited by 89.243.96.63 and Bardrick
 * Philip Sessarego edited by 89.243.99.192 and Bardrick
 * Shettleston edited by 89.243.97.120, 89.243.97.42 and Bardrick
 * James Marshall-Cornwall edited by 89.243.100.73 and Bardrick
 * Down in the Tube Station at Midnight edited by 89.243.100.73 and Bardrick
 * Horace Smith-Dorrien edited by 89.243.103.148 and Bardrick
 * John Cobb (racing driver) edited by 89.243.96.62 and Bardrick
 * Stanley Maude edited by 89.243.97.122, 89.243.97.86 and Bardrick
 * Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell edited by 89.243.97.8 and Bardrick
 * Dancing with Myself edited by 89.243.99.20 and Bardrick, this is a single by Generation X, see third common article listed above
 * The Sun Always Shines on T.V. edited by 89.243.99.20 and Bardrick
 * Robert Addie edited by 89.243.101.151, 89.243.102.151 and Bardrick
 * John Gillespie Magee Jr. edited by 89.243.97.226 and Bardrick
 * Molesey edited by 89.243.97.66, 89.243.102.168 and Bardrick
 * The Ghost Train (play) edited by 89.243.100.45 and Bardrick
 * John Laffin edited by 89.243.100.45 and Bardrick

I could also point out common articles with previous IP socks and specific common unusual edits, but I hope those common articles on Bardrick's known IP ranges are sufficient to demonstrate they are still editing while logged out. FDW777 (talk) 21:23, 20 March 2020 (UTC)


 * They were blocked on 3 October 2019 for persistent editing while logged out. Other than some edits to their talk page regarding the block, since then they haven't edited while logged in at all. The checkuser that blocked them for this, said here You are blocked for avoiding scrutiny by IP socking and You need to stick to editing with your account. Given those clear messages, is it really ok to simply abandon their account and always edit while logged out? If it is, I'll look into the contributions and provide more evidence of policy violations that they've also been advised to avoid. FDW777 (talk) 07:00, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
— Berean Hunter   (talk)  09:23, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
 * There isn't necessarily a problem with editing logged out unless there's something that applies in WP:ILLEGIT? Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 02:19, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * That applies to trusted users and this one isn't. They have a failure to engage and only converse after being blocked. They were to edit while logged in so that they would not avoid scrutiny and have a past of IP socking. Account blocked 3 months and ranges blocked six.

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

The ranges above are apparently used exclusively by Bardrick, and they have been blocked twice before to encourage logged in editing. To demonstrate they are slill being used by the same person, see for example this, this and this by Bardrick where they add "20th century" to the lead of biography articles, which is something I've not seen anyone else do. But since the rangeblocks expired, it's been done by 89.243.96.240, 84.13.182.212 and 89.243.99.237. Then there's edits such as these by 89.243.99.117, where they disruptively attempt to reintroduce a deprecated reference with a spacing mistake (" Da ily Mail") to avoid it being detected. The article has previously been edited extensively by Bardrick. Similarly this by 89.243.102.231, to an article edited 187 times by Bardrick. So there's little doubt the ranges are still being used by the same person. FDW777 (talk) 21:18, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Blocked again per evidence for same length as previous CU block. Closing. The SandDoctor  Talk 15:53, 25 April 2021 (UTC)