UK police arrest man for offensive tweet and other disturbing trends

originally posted by: stumason
a reply to: crazyewok

For that airport chap - strictly speaking, he did make a "threat" of a "menacing" nature. However, he got off very lightly (a small fine which was paid for by Stephen Fry and his conviction was later quashed) and I think the only reason they punished him was because they took the "threat" seriously (how were they supposed to know?) and expended Police time (money) investigating it - they usually don't like that.

It seems, from further reading, it was the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer (the same man who decided to not prosecute Police over Ian Tomlinson's death) who pushed the case and the CPS were quite keen to not press charges at all.

Its pretty easy to filterout REAL threats the police just need to ask?
Are they muslim
Are they Irish
Are tney linked to exremtist groups
Have they made trips to countrys were there is terrorism
Have they got in possesion items that can be used in a attack.

Yeah I knowsome of the above discriminate, but hey white working Brits dont go round actually blowing up airports


If the awnser to the above is mostly no then I think they are safe.

What do spend billions on big brother survalince if they cant filter jokes from threats?


As for got off lightly he lost his job and ended up tempoarly with a criminal record, sure afteryears battling i n court he won but he still lost a lot,........over a stupid joke.

originally posted by: crazyewok
Its pretty easy to filterout REAL threats the police just need to ask?
Are they muslim
Are they Irish
Are tney linked to exremtist groups
Have they made trips to countrys were there is terrorism
Have they got in possesion items that can be used in a attack.

Odd you should say that - that is exactly what they did by investigation the "threat", hence the cost and waste of time. Besides, you don't have to be a Muslim/Irish or what have you - plenty of lone nutters exist in the world. It's all very well you sitting there with 20/20 hindsight.

originally posted by: crazyewok
Yeah I knowsome of the above discriminate, but hey white working Brits dont go round actually blowing up airports

Perhaps not - although how do you tell a "white Brit" from a "white Irishman"? And there are plenty of other things "white Brits" get up too, such as gun rampages for example.

originally posted by: crazyewok
If the awnser to the above is mostly no then I think they are safe.

But the point is, crazy, that they had to expend resources to confirm the threat wasn't real, at which point the decided to pin the "malicious communications" charge on him to teach him a "lesson".

originally posted by: crazyewok
What do spend billions on big brother survalince if they cant filter jokes from threats?

Perhaps, crazy, they don't spend "billions on big brother" at all?

originally posted by: crazyewok
As for got off lightly he lost his job and ended up tempoarly with a criminal record, sure after years battling i n court he won but he still lost a lot,........over a stupid joke.

Let's not get all worked up about it, after all, he is entitled to compensation ( some info here ) and the "years" was barely 2. He was arrested in January 2010 to his conviction being quashed in July 2012 - all the while being supported by celebrities etc. As I understand it, he is in gainful employment and has also got married, so he's not badly affected and, after all, this whole case led to a review of CPS guidelines for these sort of things:

CPS Guidlines here - which appear, on the face of it, to exonerate the man in question for this particular thread as well. This is, after all, how our legal system works.

Initial assessment

Communications sent via social media are capable of amounting to criminal offences and prosecutors should make an initial assessment of the content of the communication and the conduct in question so as to distinguish between:

Communications which may constitute credible threats of violence to the person or damage to property.

Communications which specifically target an individual or individuals and which may constitute harassment or stalking within the meaning of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Communications which may amount to a breach of a court order. This can include offences under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 5 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, breaches of a restraining order or breaches of bail. Cases where there has been an offence alleged to have been committed under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 or section 5 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 should be referred to the Attorney General and via the Principal Legal Advisor's team where necessary.

Communications which do not fall into any of the categories above and fall to be considered separately (see below): i.e. those which may be considered grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false.

As a general approach, cases falling within paragraphs 12 (1), (2) or (3) should be prosecuted robustly where they satisfy the test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. On the other hand, cases which fall within paragraph 12(4) will be subject to a high threshold and in many cases a prosecution is unlikely to be in the public interest.

Having identified which of the categories set out in paragraph 12 the communication and the conduct in question falls into, prosecutors should follow the approach set out under the relevant heading below.

a reply to: stumason

I admit my punctuation an spelling is terrible Im using a Blackberry wich I would love to burry deep underground.
My fingers are to big for the blooming keypad.

your criticism went beyond opine an entered rude country What strangerst think of me is water of a ducks ass....
I hope it made you feel superior and insulting my spelling an puncution gave you a warm glow as theres nothing like derideing a stranger an putting them down .

At this festive time of year.

Yes I did say the thugs were apathetic an opertunistic.
Mindless morons we seem to be on the same page with that.
How ever I certainly was not hypeing the situation.

Hyrebole is whats ocouring IN THE sTATES AS REGArds THERE MINOR PROTESTS.

wHAT HAPPENED in LONDON Birmingham mANCHESTER AN OTHER citys was full on civil unrest an believe me it had many many establishment figures very nervous.

I don't know what I SAID TO warrant your insults or why you take exception to my sausage fingers and bad eyesight .
But have a happy festive season and all the best for the future Friend.

And as Hughie Green used to say I mean that most sincerely.

Pease.