Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A MAN WHO jokingly tweeted that he was going to blow up Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire has won an appeal against his conviction.
Paul Chambers was frustrated when snow forced the airport to closed in January 2010 and tweeted to his 600 followers (he now has over 8,000):
Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!!
He had been planning to travel to Belfast to see his girlfriend the following week.
Chambers was found guilty in May 2010 of sending a “menacing electronic message” and was fined £385 and ordered to pay £600 costs. His initial appeal was dismissed on the grounds that the airport staff had found the message threatening enough to report it.
However lawyers for Chambers argued that the tweet was offensive at worst, but certainly was not made with criminal intent. Later appeals went to the High Court, which unusually failed to reach a decision in February and ordered a new hearing.
In May of this year Chambers was granted a new appeal hearing and today won that appeal and was acquitted.
Several high profile names backed Chambers’ campaign, including comedian Al Murray, comedian and writer Stephen Fry and Father Ted creator Graham Linehan.
Al Murray was in court today and tweeted a picture of a relieved Chambers with his fiancé:
Murray also tweeted that the judgement found that Twitter does not fall under the Communications Act, and that it was “difficult to see how [the tweet] can be described as a message of menacing character”.
Fry meanwhile took a break from his Twitter holiday’ to welcome the judgement:
Earlier today Chambers tweeted his thanks in advance to his supporters:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Stupid comment to make in the first place!
Stupid? Maybe. Menacing? Most definately not.
The problem is that the authorities are damned if they take action and damned if they didn’t. If he *had* been a bomber and they had laughed it off as a joke, you can bet we’d all be calling for the prosecution of those who ignored the tweet. A funny quip to a mate is one thing but it can take on a whole new dimension when you ping it out to the twitterati.
@chris They did take action, but it escalated to ridiculous levels. That is also a threat, if you have time and people ludicously engaged in following up nonsense the real dangers can slide by.
The tweet when first posted was ignored – by all his followers who saw it. None thought anything of it, it didn’t even get retweeted. It was 5 days later when someone who worked at the airport saw it, while searching and reported it.
Even then, the airport deemed it a non-credible threat, took absolutely no additional security precautions whatsoever and basically ignored it. They only passed it to police cos they have a protocol that says they must. Even the police when they investigated didn’t see iany threat. The report sent to the Crown Prosecution service said as much, but for some reason they prosecuted anyway.
It was crazy and a terrible waste of resources. It’s like everyone who ever said something like “I’d kill my granny for a cup of tea” was arrested, charged and found guilty for conspiracy to commit a crime.
@Chris, I don’t see how a £385 fine would stop him if he really was going to blow up the airport.
Exactly right, Sean. But it might deter people from idiotic tweets that result in the mobilisation of security.
But Chris, it didn’t result in the mobilisation of security. At all. It resulted no anxiety whatsoever at the airport or anywhere else and none from the police either. It interferred not one whit with the operation of the airport.
The case was won in the end and he will not now have to pay the fine and is completely in the clear but he lost two jobs as a result of this, employers being understandably wary of someone who has a case for, essentially, making a terrorist threat hanging over them.
Is that fair? Really, deep down, do you think it is fair?
What a ridiculous waste of time and money for all concerned. Posting on twitter is as precarious as a luncheon date with an aged maiden aunt. Definitely not a medium to be in any way controversial. There is an insidious censorialism suffocating dissent in our crumbling capitalist society. Not so different to Stalinist Russia. The tyranny is just a little more subtle.
A rare victory for common sense…
Nearly two years and a lot of hassle later to sort this out. Well done to everyone who investigated this. Lets put all the serious crimes on hold and focus on offensive tweets
Be handy if Al Qaeda etc. set up twitter accounts and announced any possible terrorist activities on their page!
Sure they’d only get a £385 fine two years too late.
A week and a bit in advance!
Good job he got fined for being stupid online and making an airport lose business over him!!
Uh, he’s been acquitted so he doesn’t have to pay a fine. I don’t see where it says that the airport lost any business because of him.
They didn’t lose any business. Did you even read the article?
have your say