Brit fined £1,000 for angry airport tweet

Airport closures are frustrating to everyone, and when Robin Hood Airport was closed due to snow ahead of Paul Chambers' flight in January, he took to Twitter to jokingly vent his anger.

The original tweet may echo the feelings of many frustrated fliers: "Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!" Chambers posted.

But the tweet cut too close to a threat in the eyes of the law. The message he posted has since cost him 1,000, after his conviction this week for posting a tweet that was "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" - despite the airport itself not seeing it as a real threat.

He was fined 385 and told to pay 600 in costs plus a 15 surcharge by Doncaster Magistrates Court and now has a criminal record, after being arrested in January by police, who confiscated Chambers' computer.

Clearly still a fan of using Twitter to speak his mind, Chambers reacted to the judgment with a tweet: "I'd like to thank the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) for their level-best efforts in f**king up the life of an ordinary citizen. I love Britain."

Chambers later suggested he may appeal: "Half of me just wants it to be over, the other half is indignant." He has two weeks to file an appeal with the court.

Offers to help pay his fine have come in from across Twitter from friends, followers and celebrities like Steven Fry, but Chambers isn't sure he'll take their cash. "And while I'm grateful for the (many) offers to donate, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it. Tomorrow may slap me in the face though."