UK plods cuff another bloke in Twitter violence threat probe
Man quizzed at Bristol cop shop following bomb and rape tweets
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A 32-year-old man has been arrested by cops investigating violent threats against high-profile women on Twitter.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that the unnamed suspect was manacled at an address in Bristol this morning and is now being quizzed at a nearby police station.
He was cuffed on suspicion of committing an offence under the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act by officers from the Met's specialist eCrime unit, who cited threats made on the popular micro-blogging site.
"He has been arrested in connection with allegations made to police by two women, who made reports of allegations to police on 25 and 29 July," the Yard added.
Feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez complained to the Met after she received nasty rape threats on Twitter from anonymous users of the site. It appears she attracted their attention after successfully lobbying to get author Jane Austen featured on new English £10 notes from 2017.
Labour MP Stella Creasy, who was also subjected to a litany of abuse on Twitter, demanded action from the police.
The latest arrest is understood to relate to those two separate allegations.
The police are taking guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service, which issued advice on how to deal with the distinction between trolls who merely offend people online and messages that are clearly menacing in nature and could amount to a campaign of violent threats targeted at individuals.
Late last month, a 21-year-old man was arrested in Manchester in connection with abusive messages sent to Criado-Perez. Similarly - like today's arrest - that suspect was also cuffed over claims of harassment.
In the past week, a number of female journalists have complained to police after receiving bomb threats via Twitter.
In response, the web biz urged netizens to report abusive messages to its staff, explaining: "We have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter. We will suspend accounts that once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules." ®
