The bloke who was fined £1,000 for a twitter which prosecutors claimed was a threat to blow up an English airport has been getting shedloads of support. The court found Paul Chambers guilty of tweeting "a message by means of a public electronic message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character contrary to the Communications Act 2003.

However the story was daft. Chambers' had met a bird on Twitter and had arranged to meet her in Northern Ireland. Then the snows came and he feared that his local airport, Robin Hood in Doncaster, U.K., would be snowed in. The shag potential somewhat thawted, Chambers was understandably miffed. So he tweeted to his 600 followers: "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s*** together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"

It seems the tweet was only spotted when an off-duty manager at the airport did a Twitter search for "Robin Hood airport." It was a few days after Chambers had vented and when it was passed to the airport's head of security Steven Armson, he reportedly deemed it "non-threatening." For some reason it ended up with the coppers and the court case.

He has been inundated with messages of support and offers to pay his fine-- some, even, from famous people. 'Star Trek' actor Simon Pegg, for example, tweeted: "What a f***ing joke! What happened to 'motive'? Surely, what's meant as a joke only becomes felony when meant as felony. #twitterjoketrial."

Pegg also wondered whether wars had been fought to preserve the right of free speech. Chambers on the other hand is concerned that his criminal record will make it difficult for him from visiting his uncle in the United States.