Liam Payne targets Twitter trolls for criticising his girlfriend

One Direction star Liam Payne deliberately targets Internet trolls who direct hateful messages at his girlfriend in an attempt to put a stop to the online bullying before she reads the comments.

The singer began dating his high school sweetheart Sophia Smith earlier this year (13) and he admits he frequently searches her name on Twitter.com to stop fans from bad mouthing her.

Discussing his actions on the micro-blogging website, he writes, "I do it lots because I worry she might read it... In the end she's just a girl like u (sic) sat reading Twitter on her phone. She doesn't deserve to sit and read all that - who does?''