Giggs injunction: Attorney General threatens Twitter users with legal action

by Steven Mostyn - Jun 7 2011, 09:45

Following on from the recent Ryan Giggs debacle, Twitter users have been warned that using the micro-blogging service to break court-enforced injunctions does not ensure impunity and could well carry legal repercussions.

That’s according to UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who has said that tweeters across England and Wales must adhere to the privacy laws designed to protect those individuals who file injunctions to prevent others from naming them publicly.

Although the law decrees that those who file for a gagging order should be responsible for pursuing legal action against anyone who subsequently breaks the injunction, Grieve has said he himself would consider taking legal action.

“I will take action if I think that my intervention is necessary in the public interest, to maintain the rule of law, proportionate and will achieve an end of upholding the rule of law,” he told BBC Radio.

“It is not something, however, I particularly want to do,” he added.
 
The Attorney General’s warning has been issued after numerous Twitter users revealed Manchester United superstar Ryan Giggs to be the mystery adulterer behind a super injunction slapped on reality TV star Imogen Thomas.

The legal team employed by Giggs are currently in the process of taking legal action to uncover the identities of all those who broke the injunction by naming him on Twitter.

If found, up to 75,000 people face the very real possibility of being hit with monetary fines or even a prison sentence for their actions.

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