Twitter Joke Trial: Paul Chambers wins appeal in High Court

Paul Chambers has been found not guilty of sending a menacing message on Twitter, in a High Court ruling.

Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, Mr Justice Griffith Williams and Mr Justice Owen said that the post on Twitter in January 2010, in which Chambers told his friends he felt like blowing up Robin Hood airport because of delays, was "not of a menacing nature".

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Lord Chief Justice Judge said:"We have concluded that, on an objective assessment, the decision of the crown court that this 'tweet' constituted or included a message of a menacing character was not open to it. On this basis, the appeal against conviction must be allowed."

Chambers has been fighting to overturn the original ruling since it was made in Doncaster Crown Court in 2010 in which he was found guilty of sending a menacing electronic communication under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. He received a criminal conviction and a fine of over £3,000 and lost his job.

Previous attempts to have the ruling overturned have failed; the first, in the Doncaster Crown Court in September 2010, was followed by another in the High Court in February this year.