This is Bristol --
A BRISTOL man has been arrested on suspicion of abusing an MP and a feminist activist on Twitter.
Last night, the 32-year-old was still being questioned at a local station by officers from the Metropolitan Central eCrime Unit, who came to the city early yesterday.
Labour MP Stella Creasy, 36, and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, 29, have both been the target of abusive messages in the past two weeks.
Miss Creasy claimed she was sent a horrifying image from the Twitter profile @Murkztah of a masked man wielding a knife, along with the warning: "I'm gonna be the first thing you see when you wake up".
A defiant Miss Creasy replied: "carry on & 4 U will be the police". The @Murztah profile is no longer active.
The suspected "troll"– as those who use the internet to abuse and bully people are called – has not been named by police.
But a Metropolitan Police spokesman said yesterday: "Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service have this morning arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of committing an offence under the Protection of Harassment Act, 1997.
"He was arrested at an address in Bristol by officers from the MPS Police Central eCrime Unit as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations relating to threats made on Twitter. The man will be taken to a Bristol police station.
"He has been arrested in connection with allegations made to police by two women, who made reports of allegations to police on July 25 and 29.
"The investigation by PCeU is ongoing, and we are in liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service."
The maximum sentence for harassment under the Act is five years in prison.
Non-custodial sentences usually involve a restraining order being imposed on the offender.
Ms Criado-Perez received rape threats on Twitter after she campaigned successfully for authoress Jane Austen to be featured on British bank notes.
Walthamstow MP Miss Creasy and television historian Mary Beard were targeted by abusers after they came out in support of the journalist.
And Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, Independent writer Grace Dent and Europe editor of TIME Magazine Catherine Mayer have also received rape and bomb threats.
The Bristol man detained is the third person to be arrested in connection with the abuse. Avon and Somerset police were not involved in the arrest.
In an interview with the Guardian, Ms Criado-Perez said: "It is like Twitter has just started vomiting up hatred and bile, and now it has moved beyond me and loads of women are being targeted in this really bizarre way. We have got to go through this really horrible process and, at the end, we will have got rid of it all." Reported by This is 7 hours ago.
A BRISTOL man has been arrested on suspicion of abusing an MP and a feminist activist on Twitter.
Last night, the 32-year-old was still being questioned at a local station by officers from the Metropolitan Central eCrime Unit, who came to the city early yesterday.
Labour MP Stella Creasy, 36, and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, 29, have both been the target of abusive messages in the past two weeks.
Miss Creasy claimed she was sent a horrifying image from the Twitter profile @Murkztah of a masked man wielding a knife, along with the warning: "I'm gonna be the first thing you see when you wake up".
A defiant Miss Creasy replied: "carry on & 4 U will be the police". The @Murztah profile is no longer active.
The suspected "troll"– as those who use the internet to abuse and bully people are called – has not been named by police.
But a Metropolitan Police spokesman said yesterday: "Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service have this morning arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of committing an offence under the Protection of Harassment Act, 1997.
"He was arrested at an address in Bristol by officers from the MPS Police Central eCrime Unit as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations relating to threats made on Twitter. The man will be taken to a Bristol police station.
"He has been arrested in connection with allegations made to police by two women, who made reports of allegations to police on July 25 and 29.
"The investigation by PCeU is ongoing, and we are in liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service."
The maximum sentence for harassment under the Act is five years in prison.
Non-custodial sentences usually involve a restraining order being imposed on the offender.
Ms Criado-Perez received rape threats on Twitter after she campaigned successfully for authoress Jane Austen to be featured on British bank notes.
Walthamstow MP Miss Creasy and television historian Mary Beard were targeted by abusers after they came out in support of the journalist.
And Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, Independent writer Grace Dent and Europe editor of TIME Magazine Catherine Mayer have also received rape and bomb threats.
The Bristol man detained is the third person to be arrested in connection with the abuse. Avon and Somerset police were not involved in the arrest.
In an interview with the Guardian, Ms Criado-Perez said: "It is like Twitter has just started vomiting up hatred and bile, and now it has moved beyond me and loads of women are being targeted in this really bizarre way. We have got to go through this really horrible process and, at the end, we will have got rid of it all." Reported by This is 7 hours ago.