This article is more than 1 year old

Welsh blogger fined over 'menacing' plod blog

Said he was just letting off steam

A Welsh blogger has been fined £150 by magistrates in Mold, Clywd, for posting an apparently menacing message about a policeman on his blog.

Gavin Brent, 24, from Holywell, Flintshire, was found guilty under the Telecommunications Act and must pay the fine and £364 in costs. He said his post was not meant to be offensive and he had used the blog to "let off steam".

Brent was arrested for theft offences in February, which have not been dealt with. When he was later charged he was told that the officer who originally interviewed him was absent because his wife was having a baby.

After he was released, Brent wrote a blog post complaining about his treatment by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The post ended: "PS - D.C. Lloyd, God help your new-born baby," according to the BBC.

The post was seen by the officer and his wife and Brent was arrested. He said he had not meant the remarks to be threatening, and offered to remove the comments and write a letter of apology.

Asked if he realised how the officer and his wife would have felt on reading the words, Brent said: "I can now. I am sorry. But their interpretation is different to what I intended."

The blog post has been removed. ®

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