Preiskel & Co wins Twitter joke trial for bomb hoaxer
Preiskel & Co is pleased to announce that the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge handed down a unanimous judgment of the High Court overturning the conviction of Paul Chambers. Paul Chambers had been convicted for sending a “menacing” electronic communication after he tweeted about Robin Hood Airport in Nottingham.
This has been a very significant case and decision for the twitter community and social media at large. Preiskel & Co was instructed due to the firm’s communications law and social media experience to advise on the Appeal, following Paul Chambers’ conviction under S127 of the Communications Act 2003.
A spontaneous round of applause broke out in court at the decision.
Preiskel & Co LLP represented Paul Chambers and the case was managed by head of media David Allen Green. The barristers were John Cooper QC and Sarah Przybylska.
David Allen Green said to the press outside the court:
The High Court today overturned the conviction of Paul Chambers and in doing so held that “of a menacing character” should have a high threshold.
This shameful prosecution should never have been brought. Neither the police nor the airport said that the tweet had been menacing. However, the CPS have maintained this case for two and a half years and the Director of Public Prosecutions personally took the decision to oppose Paul’s appeal. My client lost his job and has not been able to work. There are serious questions to be asked now of the CPS in this case.
Paul Chambers on being interviewed stated:
The past two and a half years have been hard and emotional, and Sarah and I wish to thank everyone who has helped with this fight. We would never have got this far and the right result without the tireless efforts of the legal team, especially my solicitor David Allen Green, the extremely generous donors to whom we’ll be forever grateful, and those supporters and well-wishers along the way. We are eternally indebted to all of you.
The news story is currently on the front page of:
The Daily Telegraph:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
front page of the BBC News website:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19009344