Brit arrested under Terrorism Act over airport Twitter joke

LONDON - A British man landed in jail under the Terrorism Act after jokingly threatening to blow up Doncaster airport in his Twitter post.

Paul Chambers was taken into custody on suspicion of conspiring to create a bomb hoax and was quizzed for seven hours.

“I had to explain Twitter to them in its entirety because they’d never heard of it. Then they asked all about my home life, and how work was going, and other personal things,” the Telegraph quoted him as telling the Independent.

He added: “I would never have thought, in a thousand years, that any of this would have happened because of a Twitter post. I’m the most mild-mannered guy you could imagine.”

The 26-year-old, out on bail, was apparently also issued with a life ban from the airport.

Chambers, who was due to travel to Ireland on January 15, joked on Twitter that he would blow the airport “sky high” if his flight was delayed over snowfall.

He posted on January 6: “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!!”

But the comment seemingly failed to tickle the funny bones of the authorities who arrived at his doorstep on January 13.

Chambers said: “My first thought upon hearing it was the police was that perhaps a member of my family had been in an accident.

“Then they said I was being arrested under the Terrorism Act and produced a piece of paper. It was a print-out of my Twitter page.

That was when it dawned on me.” (ANI)