Man arrested over offensive Captain Sir Tom Moore tweet

Captain Sir Tom Moore passed away last Tuesday morning after a battle with coronavirus and pneumonia leaving hearts shattered all across the UK. Now, one man has been arrested over an ‘offensive’ tweet about the hero.

Man arrested over offensive Sir Captain Tom Moore tweet

The Lanarkshire Police department announced that the man had been charged with ‘communication offences’ over Twitter but failed to reveal what the offender’s Twitter post had said:

On Friday, 5 February, we received a report of an offensive tweet about Sir Captain Tom Moore who died on Tuesday, 2 February. A 35-year-old man has been charged in connection with communication offences and is due to appear at Lanark Sheriff Court on Wednesday, 17 February.

The man was charged with violating the UK Communications Act 2003, which makes posting content of ‘grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character’ a criminal offense. The man is now due in court next Wednesday and could face up to six months behind bars or a fine of up to £5,000, or both.

Campaign launched for Captain Sir Tom Moore Statue

While one man clearly did not appreciate the effort that Captain Sir Tom Moore had put into supporting the NHS, others definitely do. Derbyshire man Garry McBride, who commissioned a bust of the WWII veteran has now launched a campaign to get a statue of the man erected in Trafalgar Square. McBride explained to PA:

It’s not just what he’s achieved, he’s now become… a champion for the Great British spirit really – and because he’s so well known now throughout the world, wouldn’t it be wonderful for tourists coming to London, and ourselves, to pay homage to the hard work of the NHS.

He continued to reveal that ‘for obvious reasons, it would be very, very nice if we could get the opportunity of creating a one-and-a-half life-sized full statue' and that Trafalgar Square would be the perfect location:

It would take approximately eight weeks to make a statue, so in that time there’s plenty of chance for people to watch the sculpture actually being made and plenty of time to find a prominent site – and I think it needs to be a prominent site. The Fourth Plinth, for instance, would be absolutely perfect.

Previously Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed that commissioning a statue of Captain Sir Tom Moore was a great idea. He revealed at a Downing Street conference last week:

I'm absolutely, of course, open to that. I know that that's the kind of thing people would want to support and we will be working with his family to see what they feel is most appropriate.

Last Wednesday night the nation was encouraged to ‘clap for Tom,’ but many thought that this was simply not enough to pay tribute to the man who raised over £30 million for NHS.

UK residents have now taken to signing petitions left, right and centre in order for Captain Sir Tom Moore to permanently go down in history. Those online have shown their support for the likes of statues, a bank holiday, commemorative coins, a state funeral and even naming a hospital after the man, with each petition gaining thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of signatures.