#TwitterJokeTrial defendant found guilty!


by Sunny Hundal    
November 11, 2010 at 4:35 pm

David Allen Green has already posted this on Twitter, but here’s the Guardian story:

The man convicted of ‘menace’ for threatening to blow up an airport in a Twitter joke has lost his appeal.

Paul 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’ 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 it contained menace and that Chambers must have known that it might be taken seriously.

Chambers, who lost his financial manager’s job after his arrest in January, sent the message to a contact called Crazycolours, a young woman from Northern Ireland who was among 650 people who regularly followed his 140-character tweets.

Completely absurd.

If you want to help fund their appeal, here is the link.

Reactions on Twitter:

@crazycolours

My battery is dying. We are gutted. It’s not the fine, this is stopping Paul getting a job and has ruined his life. #twitterjoketrial

@StephenFry

@pauljchambers My offer still stands. Whatever they fine you, I’ll pay x #twitterjoketrial

@earwicga

Perhaps all the people angry at the #twitterjoketrial can take an interest in rape victim sent to jail? http://bit.ly/cr3pJP

@TeeSpirit

Struggling to understand how the CPS found a case about a joke and airport, but didn’t regarding Ian Tomlinson? #TwitterJokeTrial

@mitchellrob

Were he alive, assume JGBallard would be due in dock for his menacing 1968 shortstory ‘Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan’ #twitterjoketrial

DrBillyo

No offence everyone, but I think this is all preaching to the converted. We need to take our anger tonight’s outlets. #twitterjoketrial


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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


This is absurd and astonishing – I damn well hope that all onliners donate to the cause for an appeal, this is a real threat to freedom of speech and just downright bizarre. We seem to live in more of a police state than we thought… can someone bring this up at PMQs!?!?!

I don’t have a twitter account. What would happen if several thousand tweeters tweeted saying this makes them so mad, they’re going to blow up Parliament?

This is ridiculous, the judicury were the only good thing about this countries administration, now they’ve gone absolutely potty.

I’m going to have to blow Judge Jacqueline Davies sky high.

This is the BBC headline

LATEST:

Man who posted message on Twitter threatening to blow up South Yorkshire’s Robin Hood Airport loses appeal against conviction

begging the question somewhat over the ‘threatening’

To me, this is the most pertinent element of the Graun article:

The Crown Prosecution Service caused controversy by using a law aimed against nuisance calls – originally to protect “female telephonists at the Post Office” in the 1930s – rather than specific bomb hoax legislation, which requires stronger evidence of intent.

Suggests the CPS were looking to prosecute from the off IMHO.

I can’t decide whether the literary allusion should be Kafka’s “The Trial” or Milan Kundera’s “The Joke”. Either way this verdict is insanity and shows either how incompetant the CPS are (as someone pointed out: no prosecution for the murder of Tomlinson) or how much the establishment hates Twitter. Twitter is at present an unregulated anarchic place to be and as Jan Moir knows (and Stephen Fry with his “women don’t enjoy sex” comments) it has a curious sort of power, which is always worrying to those in charge (unless they play safe and get on-side (hi, mumsnet)).
But to lose your job, be given a criminal record and fined £1000 for making an off-colour flippant joke is absolutely ridiculous. I shall certainly be donating.

Luis Enrique hereby wins the Mortimer Prize for correct use of the phrase “begging the question”.

It’s utterly ridiculous to prosecute somebody for what is obviously a fucking JOKE!

I’m so angry I’m going to stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death.

@8

No need. Your name alone probably constitutes an intent to commit violent assault.

Whilst I’m in total agreement that this ruling is a disgrace, the article that earwicga links to is even more shocking:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/09/woman-jailed-dropping-rape-charges

This will turn your stomach.

Paul,

This will turn your stomach.

It did. Words can’t express my disgust.

Paul, still on the subject of rape, this disgusted me today: Officers broke the rules by dismissing rape claims, says Met.

A ridiculous decision. It was an obvious joke.

As ridiculous as arresting someone for twittering that someone should stone Yasmin Alibhai Brown to death. We all get a little exasperated with Yazza from time to time, but it was a tasteless and unpleasant jibe, maybe one that should get him thrown out of his party (is that union guy who shared his fantasies about killing Thatcher still in post ? I presume so) – but no one believes that he was actually inciting murder – particularly a form of murder that usually takes a crowd to perpetrate.

I await with interest Sunny’s take on this one. I hope he’ll do the right thing, but after all, the guy’s a political enemy, isn’t he ?

If the Compton story broke on a different week we’d be seeing calls for his prosecution here but unless he’s got gay porn on his laptop I doubt he’ll get a mention.

There was more freedom to satirise and parody under Torquemada or Stalin than we have in 21st Century Britain.

If someone phoned up the airport, or directed a message to them, saying this, prosecution would seem appropriate.

But where someone has merely stated this to a friend, with no intention for the airport to see the message, I find the idea of prosecuting absolutely astounding and chilling.

I posted on YAB on Twitter earlier today

http://twitter.com/sunny_hundal/status/2764050467389440

I apologise if that doesn’t fit into other people’s expectations and/or prejudices.

Well good on you, Sunny. Always nice to have one’s pessimism confounded.

“There was more freedom to satirise and parody under Torquemada or Stalin than we have in 21st Century Britain.”

I doubt it very much. And while the Chambers decision is utterly outrageous and he’s lost his job, he’s not being burned alive or getting 10 years hard labour in Siberia.

Didn’t Jeremy Hardy call on the BBC for BNP members to be shot in the back of the head, while Jo Brand suggested posting excrement to them (also on the BBC), and Billy Bragg wrote in the Guardian that they should be ‘duffed up in the streets’ ?

No prosecutions there …

Is this a case of a judge making a really bad decision, or one of a judge having no option but to apply a really bad law? or a bit of both?

20. Chaise Guevara

“There was more freedom to satirise and parody under Torquemada or Stalin than we have in 21st Century Britain.”

Sigh.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  2. John West

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  3. Richard Lane

    Absolutely insane > RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  4. Julie Tomlin

    @juliahobsbawm Think you're right on that one.. And on the subject of Twitter 'jokes' that go wrong.. http://ow.ly/38f8e

  5. Georgina Vincent

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  6. Stuart Sorensen

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  7. Alan Harrison

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  8. #TwitterJokeTrial I am going to bomb Judge Jacqueline Davies « Left Outside

    [...] A propos of this. [...]

  9. Jim Jepps

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  10. Is the law an ass… | Councillor Bob Piper

    [...] both? See this piece about the poor sod who ended up in court and lost his job for tweeting “Crap! Robin Hood airport [...]

  11. Bob Ashworth

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  12. conspiracy theo

    #TwitterJokeTrial defendants found guilty! | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/afQKR4

  13. Joseph Wheatley

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb

  14. Toby Bryans

    #twitterjoketrial http://is.gd/gWJdI http://is.gd/gWJe4 http://cripesonfriday.tumblr.com/post/587845442/twitter-joke-trial-fund

  15. Pucci Dellanno

    RT @libcon: Astonishing: #TwitterJokeTrial defendants guilty! http://bit.ly/93f6Bb





  • We have a tight comments policy aimed at fostering constructive debate.
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  • Abusive, sarcastic or silly comments may be deleted.
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  • Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy.

 
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