Tory Councillor Gareth Compton Arrested Over 'Stoning To Death' Tweet
As Twitter user Paul Chambers found out, it's not a good idea to use the site to make jokey threats because there's always a chance humourless authorities won't be laughing. After he tweeted a fake bomb scare, Chambers was arrested and lost his job.
One person who definitely hasn't taken Chambers' treatment on board is Birmingham Tory councillor Gareth Compton.
He's been arrested after a message appeared on his private Twitter account that called for Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Muslim newspaper columnist, to be stoned to death.
He has apologised for the remark, calling it "an ill-conceived attempt at humour".
A Conservative spokesperson said Mr Compton's language was "unacceptable", and he had been suspended from the party indefinitely, pending a further investigation.
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: "We can confirm a 38-year-old man from Harborne has been arrested for an offence under section 127 (1a) of the Communications Act of 2003 on suspicion of sending an offensive or indecent message.
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5pm 11/11/10
Paul Chambers loses airport bomb threat prank appeal
Paul Chambers, the man convicted of "menace for threatening to blow up an airport on Twitter for a laugh, has lost his appeal.
Chambers, a 27-year-old accountant whose online courtship with another tweeter led to the "foolish prank", had hoped that a crown court would dismiss his conviction and £1,000 fine without a full hearing.
But Judge Jacqueline Davies instead handed down a devastating finding at Doncaster which dismissed Chambers's appeal on every count. After reading out his tweet – "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!!" – she found that it contained menace and Chambers must have known that it might be taken seriously.
On Twitter, hundreds of uses are tweeting jokey threats with the hashtag #twitterjoketrial in protest.
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Cubejam
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Oh come on! It's not as if the rest of us don't come out with stuff like that! In fact I've probably said I'd like someone stoned to death too.. but arrested over that?! What the fuck?
Apparently because he is an MP he can be arrested for saying the same thing as someone who isn't.. stupid.
- 1 year ago
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Cubejam
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OrbViper
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Cubejam:
He's a councillor, not an MP...it's sort of in the headline. I get what you're saying, but public officials still do need to watch what they're saying more than any normal bloke.
- 1 year ago
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OrbViper
