Twitter JP “should have stayed”
Monday 27th April 2009, 1:49PM BST.
A leading magistrate who quit the bench after being reported for posting details of cases he dealt with on the Twitter social networking site should have stayed, according to shropshirestar.com readers.
The poll run by the Shropshire Star, which revealed Professor Steve Molyneux’s resignation on Saturday, resulted in 75 per cent of respondents saying he should not have resigned.
The majority of comments were also in defence of the 54-year-old from Oakengates, Telford, who signs himself Profontheprowl on the Twitter site.
Mr Molyneux, a Telford magistrate for 16 years, posted on the site regularly during breaks in court proceedings.
A fellow magistrate discovered the 54-year-old’s Twitterings and complained. Mr Molyneux decided to resign after the matter was passed to the Shropshire Justices Advisory Committee.
He has, however, denied any wrongdoing and said that he only wrote about matters already in the public domain.
A website comment from “Rob” said: “Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction by the establishment to me.
“All the Tweets contained were freely available in the public domain and just the kind of thing that makes Twitter what it is.”
“telblue” wrote: “Get back on the bench, I hear you’re a top chap!
“You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Neither Mr Molyneux or the Shropshire Justices Advisory Committee were available for comment today.
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He should have known better.
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Interesting that someone can vote more than once – rigged figures possibly?
He was right to resign! Lets not drag this out to be a sob story eh? He should have thought about is actions and the very fact alone that he resigned then started the bleeding heart routine, is almost farcical! If he genuinley thought he had done nothing wrong and felt so strongly about his role as a Magistrate, he should have stood by his actions and defended them to the end, not run away at the first hurdle!
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Not only should he have known better.
He should be charged with criminal negligence.
He is making decisions that effect others for the rest of their lives.
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“Should have stayed” is a bit misleading. The question was “Should he have resigned?” and I indeed click “No he shouldn’t”.
I felt he should not have resigned but either defend his actions or appoligise, rather than run away from his responsibilities and hide in Twit-land.
That is far from saying he should have stayed!!
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