Airport Twitter joke bombs
Appeal court judges are being urged to overturn the conviction of Twitter user Paul Chambers over a threatening tweet claiming that it was “obviously facetious” and “a parody.”
The incident occurred back in January during a period of unusually heavy snowfall which led Chambers to lose his cool in a tweet which read “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!!!”
Anti terrorist officers subsequently raided his work a week later, not because of any substantive threat but because of the “menace” induced by hoax bomb threats.
Chambers’ defence team are arguing that the message cannot be proven to be menacing and nor was their any intent to cause menace.
Doncaster Crown Court will conclude the case at a date yet to be decided.