Freedom of speech row over British blogger who faces jail for calling councillor a c*** on Twitter

We read:

"A political blogger who used an offensive term on Twitter to indirectly describe a local councillor is facing jail in a landmark conviction which has caused outrage on the social networking site.

John Graham Kerlen, who blogs under the name Olly Cromwell, used the word 'c***' while tweeting about Bexley Council.

Mr Kerlen, an outspoken blogger whose website heavily criticises the local authority in south east London, posted an image of a councillor's house, as well as a tweet saying: 'Which c*** lives in a house like this. Answers on a postcard to #bexleycouncil.'

Mr Kerlen was arrested after a complaint from the councillor in question, and was charged with an offence under Section 127 of the Telecommunications Act 2003.

And in a case which could have huge legal repercussions for Twitter and its millions of users, Kerlen was convicted of the offence by Greenwich magistrates and now faces a possible jail term.

Source

This appears to be an obscenity conviction.  In an age when "obscene" speech is very common in Britain,  it sounds like the law is being twisted to a political purpose