Local man guilty of sending offensive tweets to MP

TWO TWEETS to an MP landed Michael McAlpine, 25, of Cephas Street, Bethnal Green, E1 in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 6th June. The MP has not been named.

In court, McAlpine pleaded guilty to two counts of sending a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing nature, contrary to Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. He was sentenced to serve ten weeks in prison (suspended for 12 months) and to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim and costs of £150.

The tweets were sent to the MP on 2nd December 2016. The MP took screenshots and reported the matter to the police. Having sent the Tweets, McAlpine deleted his Twitter account – but he was arrested the following day, 3rd December. He was formally charged on 23rd May.

•STORY UPDATE:
Although the name of the MP to whom McAlpine sent the Tweets was not formally released by the police, it has been widely reported that the target of the troll tweets was Anna Soubry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe. She had apparently said she was pleased that Tory MP Zac Goldsmith had lost his seat in a by-election, whereupon McAlpine tweeted that someone should “Jo Cox” her. Ms Soubry took the threat seriously and reviewed her own security and that of her staff.

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