Airline passenger news and views

How stupid can you be? Everyone knows the rules about claiming to have a bomb etc. and to do it on a flight to Northern Ireland !? Yes he should be locked up, whether he is a criminal or just criminally insane hardly matters to me.

All joking apart, we do have to recognise that terrorists are a genuine threat and that a lot of effort goes into security and we all suffer delays as a result of it. We do have to show some sense and respect for the authorities and I think he deserves his punishment.

He must be a really stupid idiot. He should be banned form all airports and all public places. He knew what he was doing and that it was wrong.

Serves him right. Think about it, if the airport had not been closed they would have had to close and put all the people outside and suspend all the flights. Crazy - I would have been very miffed if I missed my flight because of an idiot like this. He should be in prison,

What has happened to the world when people can't just get a bit frustrated without being arrested and questioned by the police. Yes this was bad judgement but nothing more! Common sense is a commodity in short supply.

Our local paper quoted his statement to the judge. Apparently, he said:

"I apologise for whatever consequences have happened, but at the time that was not my intention at all. It did not cross my mind that Robin Hood would ever look at Twitter or take it seriously, because it was innocuous hyperbole."

What a Pratt !

The poor guy lost his job after the police turned up at the office where he works (worked). The best bit was that they then impounded his iPhone like it was a weapon or something.

This man turns out to have been a serial pest. The court was told about previous rude and stupid messages that he had sent to other social websites. Part of the trouble is that he is made to sound like he is the victim and that the authorities are interfering with his so-called civil liberties.

I think he is just an idiot and ought to grow up.

There will always be idiots that put their own frustration before consideration of others. Yes, it was just an act of stupidity but he knew it was stupid and he knew that it was one of those 'beyond the line' things that you just don't do.

Sadly, banning him for life makes him into a bit of an anti-hero. He needs to be made to feel ashamed.

I feel a bit sorry for the guy. He is obviously a pratt but people do do daft things. A fine was probably the right thing. Banning him for life is a bit OTT.

I suppose one question has to be whether real terrorists would use Twitter to announce a bomb. If they would, then what he did is dangerous and he deserves to be punished - not least as a warning to other twits.

I only just read this and I had not seen or read anything about it in the papers. I am embarrassed that anyone could think doing something like this was acceptable. I am not saying that it was a terrorist offence but it was certainly something that was stupid and showed a complete disregard for his fellow citizens and the reality of the terrorist threat.

Yes this is just idiotic; the £1000 fine was justified. The guy was asking for it, venting his frustration on one of world’s biggest social networking sites. I bet this is not first controversial comment that he has made.

We were all young once and all did silly things. I do have sympathy for people who fall foul of authority and jobs worths, but I have to accept that bombs and airports do not mix and this type of prank is over the limit. So, £1000 was about right. The 'hidden' punishment is that he is very unlikely to see America again.

Apparently TV star Stephen Fry offered to pay the fine for Chambers. He believed the comment was taken totally out of context and the treatment/fine was undeserved.

This was certainly blown out of proportion (excuse the pun).

Surely Paul Chambers is guilty of sending a menacing message if he was sending it to Robin Hood Airport. As it was, he sent it to his twitter followers. That being the case, while his tweet could be observed by airport employees it was clear that he wasn't intending for them to read it.

I am surprised the twitter moderators didn't catch this one early, it would have saved a lot of grief.

I always feel sorry for the officials that have to implement the security rules. Should they turn a blind eye to behaviour which they probably know is stupid rather than truly dangerous or do they have to impose the rules just in case? It must be a difficult call.

Terrorists are not stupid and they must watch us go round and round in circles on this.

I sympathise with Paul Chambers, for one stupid joke on Twitter he has had his civil liberties trampled on and now has a criminal record.

Presumably Mr Plod will be feverishly scanning these comments and those on Twitter in order to swoop on all those who have dared to support Mr Chambers.

That would make as much sense as the thinking behind the original prosecutuion.

I cannot believe this poor guy gets a £1000 fine and a criminal record despite an investigation that must have showed Paul Chambers having NO access to explosives or evidence of purchasing or intent to purchase explosives is beyond shocking to me.

God help all of us in this country, freedom of speech is being eroded day-by-day.

I see that he is appealing against his conviction. That should be interesting?

I agree with Nial, what has the world become when a piece of innocent humor is turned into a peice of criminal writing?! What has happened to the freedom of speach?!

I think that he did not mean any harm. He was frustrated and was showing his anger through social networking. What is wrong with that?!

That this ever got to court in the first place is a total joke.

It was a silly thing to say, but people say silly things all the time. It's just NOT criminal.

There was clearly no credible threat. Everyone from the police, airport staff onward recognise this until you get to the CPS and judge. They blindly and misguidedly applied outdated law. (written long before the frivolous posting on twitter came along)

The appeal judge thought(despite being told not, by so many mambers of staff) that "anyone reading his tweet would think it a real threat"

That is totally moronic, but do you know who the a real moron is?

It's Stacey from Dunstable, on this thread.

Obviously this Chamber's guy has not an ounce of common sense. Of course we all feel aggrieved at times but to do something like this, the man is insane.