diff --git a/include/api.php b/include/api.php
index 9d3bae70a7..da7a83f51c 100644
--- a/include/api.php
+++ b/include/api.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Friendica\Core\Worker;
 use Friendica\Database\DBM;
 use Friendica\Model\Contact;
 use Friendica\Model\Group;
+use Friendica\Model\Mail;
 use Friendica\Model\Photo;
 use Friendica\Model\User;
 use Friendica\Network\FKOAuth1;
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ require_once 'include/security.php';
 require_once 'include/html2bbcode.php';
 require_once 'mod/wall_upload.php';
 require_once 'mod/proxy.php';
-require_once 'include/message.php';
 require_once 'include/like.php';
 require_once 'include/plaintext.php';
 
@@ -3644,7 +3644,7 @@ function api_direct_messages_new($type)
 		}
 	}
 
-	$id = send_message($recipient['cid'], $_POST['text'], $sub, $replyto);
+	$id = Mail::send($recipient['cid'], $_POST['text'], $sub, $replyto);
 
 	if ($id > -1) {
 		$r = q("SELECT * FROM `mail` WHERE id=%d", intval($id));
diff --git a/include/message.php b/include/message.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 4404163dc3..0000000000
--- a/include/message.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,213 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-// send a private message
-
-use Friendica\App;
-use Friendica\Core\System;
-use Friendica\Core\Worker;
-use Friendica\Database\DBM;
-
-function send_message($recipient = 0, $body = '', $subject = '', $replyto = '')
-{
-	$a = get_app();
-
-	if (!$recipient) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	if (!strlen($subject)) {
-		$subject = t('[no subject]');
-	}
-
-	$me = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `self` = 1 LIMIT 1",
-		intval(local_user())
-	);
-	$contact = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
-		intval($recipient),
-		intval(local_user())
-	);
-
-	if (!(count($me) && (count($contact)))) {
-		return -2;
-	}
-
-	$guid = get_guid(32);
-	$uri = 'urn:X-dfrn:' . System::baseUrl() . ':' . local_user() . ':' . $guid;
-
-	$convid = 0;
-	$reply = false;
-
-	// look for any existing conversation structure
-
-	if (strlen($replyto)) {
-		$reply = true;
-		$r = q("SELECT `convid` FROM `mail` WHERE `uid` = %d AND (`uri` = '%s' OR `parent-uri` = '%s') LIMIT 1",
-			intval(local_user()),
-			dbesc($replyto),
-			dbesc($replyto)
-		);
-		if (DBM::is_result($r)) {
-			$convid = $r[0]['convid'];
-		}
-	}
-
-	if (!$convid) {
-		// create a new conversation
-		$recip_host = substr($contact[0]['url'], strpos($contact[0]['url'], '://') + 3);
-		$recip_host = substr($recip_host, 0, strpos($recip_host, '/'));
-
-		$recip_handle = (($contact[0]['addr']) ? $contact[0]['addr'] : $contact[0]['nick'] . '@' . $recip_host);
-		$sender_handle = $a->user['nickname'] . '@' . substr(System::baseUrl(), strpos(System::baseUrl(), '://') + 3);
-
-		$conv_guid = get_guid(32);
-		$convuri = $recip_handle . ':' . $conv_guid;
-
-		$handles = $recip_handle . ';' . $sender_handle;
-
-		$fields = array('uid' => local_user(), 'guid' => $conv_guid, 'creator' => $sender_handle,
-			'created' => datetime_convert(), 'updated' => datetime_convert(),
-			'subject' => $subject, 'recips' => $handles);
-		if (dba::insert('conv', $fields)) {
-			$convid = dba::lastInsertId();
-		}
-	}
-
-	if (!$convid) {
-		logger('send message: conversation not found.');
-		return -4;
-	}
-
-	if (!strlen($replyto)) {
-		$replyto = $convuri;
-	}
-
-	$post_id = null;
-	$result = q("INSERT INTO `mail` ( `uid`, `guid`, `convid`, `from-name`, `from-photo`, `from-url`,
-		`contact-id`, `title`, `body`, `seen`, `reply`, `replied`, `uri`, `parent-uri`, `created`)
-		VALUES ( %d, '%s', %d, '%s', '%s', '%s', %d, '%s', '%s', %d, %d, %d, '%s', '%s', '%s' )",
-		intval(local_user()),
-		dbesc($guid),
-		intval($convid),
-		dbesc($me[0]['name']),
-		dbesc($me[0]['thumb']),
-		dbesc($me[0]['url']),
-		intval($recipient),
-		dbesc($subject),
-		dbesc($body),
-		1,
-		intval($reply),
-		0,
-		dbesc($uri),
-		dbesc($replyto),
-		datetime_convert()
-	);
-	if ($result) {
-		$post_id = dba::lastInsertId();
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 *
-	 * When a photo was uploaded into the message using the (profile wall) ajax
-	 * uploader, The permissions are initially set to disallow anybody but the
-	 * owner from seeing it. This is because the permissions may not yet have been
-	 * set for the post. If it's private, the photo permissions should be set
-	 * appropriately. But we didn't know the final permissions on the post until
-	 * now. So now we'll look for links of uploaded messages that are in the
-	 * post and set them to the same permissions as the post itself.
-	 *
-	 */
-	$match = null;
-	if (preg_match_all("/\[img\](.*?)\[\/img\]/", $body, $match)) {
-		$images = $match[1];
-		if (count($images)) {
-			foreach ($images as $image) {
-				if (!stristr($image, System::baseUrl() . '/photo/')) {
-					continue;
-				}
-				$image_uri = substr($image, strrpos($image, '/') + 1);
-				$image_uri = substr($image_uri, 0, strpos($image_uri, '-'));
-				q("UPDATE `photo` SET `allow_cid` = '%s'
-					WHERE `resource-id` = '%s' AND `album` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d ",
-					dbesc('<' . $recipient . '>'),
-					dbesc($image_uri),
-					dbesc( t('Wall Photos')),
-					intval(local_user())
-				);
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	if ($post_id) {
-		Worker::add(PRIORITY_HIGH, "Notifier", "mail", $post_id);
-		return intval($post_id);
-	} else {
-		return -3;
-	}
-}
-
-function send_wallmessage($recipient = '', $body = '', $subject = '', $replyto = '')
-{
-	if (!$recipient) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	if (!strlen($subject)) {
-		$subject = t('[no subject]');
-	}
-
-	$guid = get_guid(32);
-	$uri = 'urn:X-dfrn:' . System::baseUrl() . ':' . local_user() . ':' . $guid;
-
-	$me = Probe::uri($replyto);
-
-	if (!$me['name']) {
-		return -2;
-	}
-
-	$conv_guid = get_guid(32);
-
-	$recip_handle = $recipient['nickname'] . '@' . substr(System::baseUrl(), strpos(System::baseUrl(), '://') + 3);
-
-	$sender_nick = basename($replyto);
-	$sender_host = substr($replyto, strpos($replyto, '://') + 3);
-	$sender_host = substr($sender_host, 0, strpos($sender_host, '/'));
-	$sender_handle = $sender_nick . '@' . $sender_host;
-
-	$handles = $recip_handle . ';' . $sender_handle;
-
-	$convid = null;
-	$fields = array('uid' => $recipient['uid'], 'guid' => $conv_guid, 'creator' => $sender_handle,
-		'created' => datetime_convert(), 'updated' => datetime_convert(),
-		'subject' => $subject, 'recips' => $handles);
-	if (dba::insert('conv', $fields)) {
-		$convid = dba::lastInsertId();
-	}
-	
-	if (!$convid) {
-		logger('send message: conversation not found.');
-		return -4;
-	}
-
-	q("INSERT INTO `mail` ( `uid`, `guid`, `convid`, `from-name`, `from-photo`, `from-url`,
-		`contact-id`, `title`, `body`, `seen`, `reply`, `replied`, `uri`, `parent-uri`, `created`, `unknown`)
-		VALUES ( %d, '%s', %d, '%s', '%s', '%s', %d, '%s', '%s', %d, %d, %d, '%s', '%s', '%s', %d )",
-		intval($recipient['uid']),
-		dbesc($guid),
-		intval($convid),
-		dbesc($me['name']),
-		dbesc($me['photo']),
-		dbesc($me['url']),
-		0,
-		dbesc($subject),
-		dbesc($body),
-		0,
-		0,
-		0,
-		dbesc($uri),
-		dbesc($replyto),
-		datetime_convert(),
-		1
-	);
-
-	return 0;
-}
diff --git a/mod/message.php b/mod/message.php
index 9e0cb32c0e..04073139f3 100644
--- a/mod/message.php
+++ b/mod/message.php
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 <?php
-
+/**
+ * @file mod/message.php
+ */
 use Friendica\App;
 use Friendica\Content\Smilies;
 use Friendica\Core\System;
 use Friendica\Database\DBM;
 use Friendica\Model\Contact;
+use Friendica\Model\Mail;
 
 require_once 'include/acl_selectors.php';
-require_once 'include/message.php';
 require_once 'include/conversation.php';
 
 function message_init(App $a)
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ function message_post(App $a)
 	$body      = x($_REQUEST, 'body')      ? escape_tags(trim($_REQUEST['body'])) : '';
 	$recipient = x($_REQUEST, 'messageto') ? intval($_REQUEST['messageto'])       : 0;
 
-	$ret = send_message($recipient, $body, $subject, $replyto);
+	$ret = Mail::send($recipient, $body, $subject, $replyto);
 	$norecip = false;
 
 	switch ($ret) {
diff --git a/mod/wallmessage.php b/mod/wallmessage.php
index 5c7ebca9fa..cd43f0e03d 100644
--- a/mod/wallmessage.php
+++ b/mod/wallmessage.php
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@
 use Friendica\App;
 use Friendica\Core\System;
 use Friendica\Database\DBM;
+use Friendica\Model\Mail;
 use Friendica\Model\Profile;
 
-require_once 'include/message.php';
-
 function wallmessage_post(App $a) {
 
 	$replyto = Profile::getMyURL();
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ function wallmessage_post(App $a) {
 		return;
 	}
 
-	$ret = send_wallmessage($user, $body, $subject, $replyto);
+	$ret = Mail::sendWall($user, $body, $subject, $replyto);
 
 	switch($ret){
 		case -1:
diff --git a/src/Model/Mail.php b/src/Model/Mail.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a0474f7557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Model/Mail.php
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file src/Model/Mail.php
+ */
+namespace Friendica\Model;
+
+use Friendica\App;
+use Friendica\Core\System;
+use Friendica\Core\Worker;
+use Friendica\Database\DBM;
+use dba;
+
+require_once 'include/dba.php';
+require_once 'include/datetime.php';
+
+/**
+ * Class to handle private messages
+ */
+class Mail
+{
+	/**
+	 * Send private message
+	 *
+	 * @param integer $recipient recipient id, default 0
+	 * @param string  $body      message body, default empty
+	 * @param string  $subject   message subject, default empty
+	 * @param string  $replyto   reply to
+	 */
+	public static function send($recipient = 0, $body = '', $subject = '', $replyto = '')
+	{
+		$a = get_app();
+
+		if (!$recipient) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (!strlen($subject)) {
+			$subject = t('[no subject]');
+		}
+
+		$me = dba::selectFirst('contact', [], ['uid' => local_user(), 'self' => true]);
+		$contact = dba::selectFirst('contact', [], ['id' => $recipient, 'uid' => local_user()]);
+
+		if (!(count($me) && (count($contact)))) {
+			return -2;
+		}
+
+		$guid = get_guid(32);
+		$uri = 'urn:X-dfrn:' . System::baseUrl() . ':' . local_user() . ':' . $guid;
+
+		$convid = 0;
+		$reply = false;
+
+		// look for any existing conversation structure
+
+		if (strlen($replyto)) {
+			$reply = true;
+			$r = q("SELECT `convid` FROM `mail` WHERE `uid` = %d AND (`uri` = '%s' OR `parent-uri` = '%s') LIMIT 1",
+				intval(local_user()),
+				dbesc($replyto),
+				dbesc($replyto)
+			);
+			if (DBM::is_result($r)) {
+				$convid = $r[0]['convid'];
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (!$convid) {
+			// create a new conversation
+			$recip_host = substr($contact['url'], strpos($contact['url'], '://') + 3);
+			$recip_host = substr($recip_host, 0, strpos($recip_host, '/'));
+
+			$recip_handle = (($contact['addr']) ? $contact['addr'] : $contact['nick'] . '@' . $recip_host);
+			$sender_handle = $a->user['nickname'] . '@' . substr(System::baseUrl(), strpos(System::baseUrl(), '://') + 3);
+
+			$conv_guid = get_guid(32);
+			$convuri = $recip_handle . ':' . $conv_guid;
+
+			$handles = $recip_handle . ';' . $sender_handle;
+
+			$fields = ['uid' => local_user(), 'guid' => $conv_guid, 'creator' => $sender_handle,
+				'created' => datetime_convert(), 'updated' => datetime_convert(),
+				'subject' => $subject, 'recips' => $handles];
+			if (dba::insert('conv', $fields)) {
+				$convid = dba::lastInsertId();
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (!$convid) {
+			logger('send message: conversation not found.');
+			return -4;
+		}
+
+		if (!strlen($replyto)) {
+			$replyto = $convuri;
+		}
+
+		$post_id = null;
+		$success = dba::insert(
+			'mail',
+			[
+				'uid' => local_user(),
+				'guid' => $guid,
+				'convid' => $convid,
+				'from-name' => $me['name'],
+				'from-photo' => $me['thumb'],
+				'from-url' => $me['url'],
+				'contact-id' => $recipient,
+				'title' => $subject,
+				'body' => $body,
+				'seen' => 1,
+				'reply' => $reply,
+				'replied' => 0,
+				'uri' => $uri,
+				'parent-uri' => $replyto,
+				'created' => datetime_convert()
+			]
+		);
+
+		if ($success) {
+			$post_id = dba::lastInsertId();
+		}
+
+		/**
+		 *
+		 * When a photo was uploaded into the message using the (profile wall) ajax
+		 * uploader, The permissions are initially set to disallow anybody but the
+		 * owner from seeing it. This is because the permissions may not yet have been
+		 * set for the post. If it's private, the photo permissions should be set
+		 * appropriately. But we didn't know the final permissions on the post until
+		 * now. So now we'll look for links of uploaded messages that are in the
+		 * post and set them to the same permissions as the post itself.
+		 *
+		 */
+		$match = null;
+		if (preg_match_all("/\[img\](.*?)\[\/img\]/", $body, $match)) {
+			$images = $match[1];
+			if (count($images)) {
+				foreach ($images as $image) {
+					if (!stristr($image, System::baseUrl() . '/photo/')) {
+						continue;
+					}
+					$image_uri = substr($image, strrpos($image, '/') + 1);
+					$image_uri = substr($image_uri, 0, strpos($image_uri, '-'));
+					dba::update('photo', ['allow-cid' => '<' . $recipient . '>'], ['resource-id' => $image_uri, 'album' => 'Wall Photos', 'uid' => local_user()]);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if ($post_id) {
+			Worker::add(PRIORITY_HIGH, "Notifier", "mail", $post_id);
+			return intval($post_id);
+		} else {
+			return -3;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @param string $recipient recipient, default empty
+	 * @param string $body      message body, default empty
+	 * @param string $subject   message subject, default empty
+	 * @param string $replyto   reply to, default empty
+	 */
+	public static function sendWall($recipient = '', $body = '', $subject = '', $replyto = '')
+	{
+		if (!$recipient) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (!strlen($subject)) {
+			$subject = t('[no subject]');
+		}
+
+		$guid = get_guid(32);
+		$uri = 'urn:X-dfrn:' . System::baseUrl() . ':' . local_user() . ':' . $guid;
+
+		$me = Probe::uri($replyto);
+
+		if (!$me['name']) {
+			return -2;
+		}
+
+		$conv_guid = get_guid(32);
+
+		$recip_handle = $recipient['nickname'] . '@' . substr(System::baseUrl(), strpos(System::baseUrl(), '://') + 3);
+
+		$sender_nick = basename($replyto);
+		$sender_host = substr($replyto, strpos($replyto, '://') + 3);
+		$sender_host = substr($sender_host, 0, strpos($sender_host, '/'));
+		$sender_handle = $sender_nick . '@' . $sender_host;
+
+		$handles = $recip_handle . ';' . $sender_handle;
+
+		$convid = null;
+		$fields = ['uid' => $recipient['uid'], 'guid' => $conv_guid, 'creator' => $sender_handle,
+			'created' => datetime_convert(), 'updated' => datetime_convert(),
+			'subject' => $subject, 'recips' => $handles];
+		if (dba::insert('conv', $fields)) {
+			$convid = dba::lastInsertId();
+		}
+		
+		if (!$convid) {
+			logger('send message: conversation not found.');
+			return -4;
+		}
+
+		dba::insert(
+			'mail',
+			[
+				'uid' => $recipient['uid'],
+				'guid' => $guid,
+				'convid' => $convid,
+				'from-name' => $me['name'],
+				'from-photo' => $me['photo'],
+				'from-url' => $me['url'],
+				'contact-id' => 0,
+				'title' => $subject,
+				'body' => $body,
+				'seen' => 0,
+				'reply' => 0,
+				'replied' => 0,
+				'uri' => $uri,
+				'parent-uri' => $replyto,
+				'created' => datetime_convert(),
+				'unknown' => 1
+			]
+		);
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+}