A councillor has walked free from court after a “very stupid” tweet aimed at London Mayor candidate Sadiq Khan was not deemed “grossly offensive”.
James Buckley, 61, who sits on Rugby Borough Council, posted a message on Twitter comparing Mr Khan’s constituency office with a corner shop.
He was suspended from his local Conservative group and described the fallout as “four months of hell” after the tweet was picked up by the press.
Legal proceedings were launched against him under the Communications Act.
Mr Buckley told the court he sent the tweet as he was “bored” while his wife was shopping in Tooting, south London, one Saturday afternoon last October.
He told magistrates he was trying to compare Mr Khan’s “slightly run down” office on Balham High Road with “plush” offices used by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Mr Khan is Labour’s mayoral candidate to replace to Mr Johnson.
Mr Buckley said: “I just did it trying to be stupidly funny, disastrously."
His defence solicitor Mohammad Farooq said the tweet was deleted 10 minutes after it was posted.
The 61-year-old added there was no racially abusive undertone to the remark and sent a letter to Mr Khan to apologise for any offence the message may have caused.
Magistrate Irene Stark said: "We all agree it was a very stupid thing to do and you admitted this yourself by deleting it.
"We do not believe that this was grossly offensive."
He was cleared of one charge of sending an offensive message at Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Buckley said he was pleased at the ruling.
He added: "Why was this case brought to court?"
