http://spiderplantland.co.uk/sir-olly-c-and-the-case-for-free-speech-in-bexley/

A blogger called a Bexley Council councillor a c*** on Twitter and ends up with a 45 day custodial sentence.

This goes against so many of my principles :@

1. *cunt.

2. From what I can make out reading that badly written post he hasn't received any such sentence as sentencing hasn't taken place yet.

3. I very much doubt he was prosecuted for calling someone a cunt. The site doesn't actually go into the details of what he was charged with other than 'a Section 127 offence' and I have no idea what that is. Presumably it relates to harassment, which he does indeed seem to be guilty of even based on this obviously biased report.

4. No country has an absolute right to free speech or expression. I can't express myself by stabbing you in the face, for example. The UK has no comprehensive, explicit definition of any such rights, only what is laid out in common law.

5. He sounds like a bit of a twat.

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1. Correct.

2. Correct, sentencing has not yet taken place. The prosecution have asked for a sentence of "45 days for each leter in C word", which translates to 6 months (the maximum custodial sentence applicable to a section 127 offence)

3. 127 is the one about obscenity, offence and annoyance on a computer. And yes, he was prosecuted for calling Councillor Seymour a cunt on Twitter, but not until after the original charges of harassment were dropped due to a complete lack of any evidence.

<quote> Section 127(1)(a) relates to a message etc that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character and should be used for indecent phone calls and emails.</quote>

4. Yes you can, but you would expect to he prosecuted for GBH/murder/etc. Now stop being silly Nd trying to equate stabbing someone with sending a tweeter twit.

5. Yes, he does.

                                                
                                                
                                                
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His knighthood should most definitely be revoked! :Y
(unless he's a baronet, I don't know what happens then)

I meant harassment in the everyday sense, not necessarily to the level of a crime. This piece is clearly on his side but it still lists various thing he's done. He's not just complaining about them being shit at their jobs, he's been abusing and making a nuisance of himself.

The original claim that calling someone a cunt is a crime is ridiculous - it's not. I have called many people cunts and have not yet been charged with any offence. This dude is not being prosecuted for calling someone a cunt, he's being prosecuted for calling someone a cunt in a particular context. I very much doubt this would've gotten to court if this was all he'd done.

I'm not saying the councillors are not a bunch of corrupt cunts. And this doesn't sound like a valid reason to prosecute someone. Everyone involved in this sounds like a dick so ideally they'll all go to prison.

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