Police question Paris Brown over Twitter comments

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/20/police-paris-brown-twitter

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A 17-year-old girl who was chosen to become Britain's first youth crime commissioner has been interviewed by police about comments she made on Twitter.

Paris Brown, 17, declined to take up the role when some of her tweets were publicised. In her tweets, she referred to Travellers as "pikeys" and homosexuals as "fags", and talked about hash brownies.

Last Sunday she was interviewed by Kent police who also examined her mobile phone. A spokeswoman said: "Kent police received more than 50 complaints from members of the public and are currently investigating to establish whether any criminal offences have been committed in relation to this incident."

Brown's solicitors said Kent police's behaviour was "wholly disproportionate". In a letter to the chief constable, Ian Learmonth, quoted in the Times, Olswang solicitors wrote: "There is nothing in the Twitter material which could be deemed even on its face to be grossly offensive or otherwise unlawful.

"Our client was also concerned to learn that officers were required to work overtime in order to access and review material on her mobile telephone. Beyond the examination of the Twitter material, the investigation was and is an unnecessary drain on limited police resources."

The police spokeswoman said the investigation procedure was normal. "Officers must first determine the extent of the misuse of social media so that the Crown Prosecution Service can then, taking into account the DPP's [director of public prosecutions] interim guidance, determine whether or not any potential evidence meets the set criteria for a prosecution," she said.