Twitter Bomb Joker Paul Chambers Wins High Court Appeal

Twitter bomb joker Paul Chambers has won a High Court appeal against his conviction, after he ‘threatened’ to blow up Robin Hood airport in south Yorkshire.

The decision to overturn the conviction has been hailed as a triumph of common sense and a victory for freedom of speech in Britain. The CPS and other authorities have also been accused of a drastic overreaction to the tweet and wasting value public money on the prosecution in the first place.

Surreal Experience

Paul Chambers was interviewed outside London’s High Court by the BBC, and he agreed the decision was a victory for common sense.

Chamers pointed to the massive public support (including celebrity campaigners such as Stephen Fry and comedian Al Murray) he received on Twitter and described how he was totally bemused that his tweet, which he had intended to be a joke, was taken seriously by anti terrorism officers. “It was total surreal, an out of body experience,” said Chambers speaking about when he was confronted by police after his tweet.

Chambers has lost two jobs following his arrest and conviction and is currently unemployed. He hopes to begin to rebuild his life following the successful appeal.

The affair all began in the bad weather that hit the UK back in January 2010, when Chambers tweeted that he might blow up Robin Hood airport near Doncaster, in frustration that it was snowed in, preventing him from visiting an online acquaintance in Belfast. His post 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!!”

To his dismay, the authorities took the post seriously, and arrested him. Doncaster Magistrates’ Court convicted Chambers in May 2010 of “sending a public electronic message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character” contrary to the Digital Communications Act 2003. He was ordered to pay £385 in fines and £600 in legal costs, and lost his job as an trainee accountant.

In November 2010 he took his case to the High Court after his appeal was rejected in Doncaster crown court. But in May 2012 it seemed that the appeal had reached a stalemate after two High Court judges were unable to reach a decision. The Chambers Twitter appeal then moved to a three-judge hearing.

Freedom of Speech

“A huge thank you to everyone who has supported @pauljchambers with #TwitterJokeTrial,” tweeted Al Murray, known for his character The Pub Landlord. Speaking to the BBC, Murray said this decision protects everyone in the UK.

“If we had lost today we would have to live in a country where you have to watch what you say, and that sounds a lot like East Germany in the bad old days,” said Murray. “It was a direct attack on freedom of speech.”

“CPS owes my constituent @paulchambers and the country a huge apology for a shameful proceution that never should have been brought” tweeted Tory MP Louise Mensch. She also called for a Parliamentary investigation of the CPS actions. However Twitter users pointed out that Mensch had previously supported the temporary shutdown of Twitter and other social networks after the London riots.

Sanity Prevails?

The appeal victory was also backed by the Pirate Party which hailed the decision, saying that sanity had finally prevailed.

“I am happy that this long running nightmare is over for Paul. But this case should never have gone this far, it has been a huge waste of Police and Court time. Today’s verdict is a win for common sense as much as freedom of speech,” said Pirate Party Leader, Loz Kaye.

“Despite finally arriving at this positive result, the chilling effect on freedom of expression remains. It is time to support free speech and review the Communications Act,” Kaye added. “The law is clearly broken when a person can be jailed for light-hearted comments on social media. If the government does nothing, there is still the threat of arbitrary arrest for even the briefest harmless joke.”

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