Twitter joker Paul Chambers set for appeal

THE MAN sentenced for threatening to blow up an airport on the Twitter micro-blogging service has a High Court appeal date.

Paul Chambers perhaps foolishly threatened to blow up the airport if it was closed when he was due to travel. His joke, just meant for his Twitter followers, said, "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," and it got far more attention than he expected.

Chambers was arrested and his case became something of an internet sensation. Other people including celebrities copied the message and posted it themselves in support.

This backing had little impact, however. Chambers was convicted of making a threat, and although he attempted an earlier appeal, it was denied. Now his new appeal date has been revealed by his solicitor writing in the New Statesman.

"The High Court will hear the appeal of Paul Chambers against his conviction on 10 November 2011. The appeal by case stated will be made by barristers Ben Emmerson QC and Sarah Przybylska, and I will be acting as his solicitor through my firm Preiskel & Co LLP," wrote David Allen Green.

"The hearing will be almost exactly one year since Doncaster Crown Court on 11 November 2010 upheld his conviction under section 127(1) of the Communications Act 2003." µ