Twitter 'joke' at High Court

At the end of the hearing, High Court judges reserved their decision to a later unspecified date.

Legal commentator Carl Gardner has been tweeting from the High Court today:

Comedian Al Murray was one of Paul Chambers' supporters at the High Court today.

He said he was there because he found the conviction "monstrously unjust".

He said: "He (Mr Chambers) made a passing remark to his followers, to his friends, to people who joined in with his way of looking at the world.

"It was found randomly by someone else and the law has, like one of those Python 10 tonne weights, dropped on top of him."

"The funniest thing is hearing it (the tweet) read out in court by a QC in his wig. Even when it's said deadpan by a QC it's funny, it's obviously a joke," he added.

John Cooper QC - Paul Chamber's lawyer - is comparing Paul Chambers' Twitter joke to those told by comedians and says he and they have a rightto freedom of expression.

He argues that some comedians tell jokes some may deem as being menacing in nature and even distasteful.

But deciding if the joke is funny or not, he says, is up to society to decide, not the court.

Comedian Al Murray is attending the High Court in support of Paul Chambers, who was found guilty of sending a 'menacing' tweet.

Mr Murray is tweeting the appeal as he sees it:

Writing in the New Statesman, Chambers' solicitor David Allen Green explains the context in which he says the 'menacing' tweet was sent:

Paul Chambers, 27, wants High Court judges to overturn the decision to uphold his May 2010 conviction of sending "a message of a menacing character".

New Statesman writer David Allen Green is Paul Chambers' solicitor:

Mr Green has written a background to the case at the New Statesman.

The case of a man found guilty of sending a 'menacing' tweet returns to court today.

Paul Chambers wants three High Court judges to overturn the decision to uphold his May 2010 conviction of sending "a message of a menacing character", contrary to provisions of the 2003 Communications Act.

The 27-year-old accountant said he sent the tweet to his 600 followers in a moment of frustration after Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire was closed by snow in January 2010, and never thought anyone would take seriously his "silly joke".

It read: