Martin Beckford and Andrew Hough
London Telegraph
July 27, 2012
British authorities were acting like the “Stasi” when they charged a man for joking about blowing up an airport on Twitter, Al Murray said in the wake of the country’s most senior judge overturning the conviction.
In an important High Court ruling the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said that the message posted online by Paul Chambers could not be considered “menacing”.
He pointed out that no one who saw the tweet thought it was a genuine bomb threat, and it was not sent to airport staff.
The joke about “blowing the airport sky high” was made in frustration at flights being cancelled because of the snow, and was only spotted five days later by an off-duty security manager.
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