Junior solicitor fined over ‘threatening’ tweets to MPs

Avatar photo

By CJ McKinney on

Ex-Shoosmiths associate admits inciting abuse against politicians after SRA investigation

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has fined a solicitor for “threatening” tweets to politicians.

Luke James Holden, a property solicitor, admitted inciting abuse against members of parliament and against the family of one MP. He also accepted having used “threatening and/or offensive and/or abusive language towards the individuals he addressed and/or tagged which was likely to shock or harass”.

In a settlement with the SRA, Holden agreed to a fine of £2,000 plus £600 in costs.

The account has since been deleted and the specifics of the tweets are not set out, but they included “one tweet which incited harassment and/or abuse of a MP and his family” and another that “used derogatory and offensive language in respect of a MP’s child”. The tweets were sent over a period of seven months, “demonstrating persistent and protracted conduct”.

The 2021 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

The settlement also stresses that Holden “identified himself as a solicitor” in his Twitter profile. The SRA’s guide to social media no-nos, first published in 2017, says that there is an extra need for professionalism if “you have identified yourself as, or are known to be, a solicitor”.

Holden is not the first lawyer to come a cropper via Twitter. In 2019, a barrister resigned from the elite Doughty Street Chambers after being accused of tweeting from an anonymous account that attacked a colleague at the same set.

Sign up to the Legal Cheek Newsletter

Related Stories

Royal baby tweet barrister cleared by London law firm

Family Law Cafe finds no evidence of 'discriminatory practice' in relation to CEO's post

Jul 2 2021 2:23pm
Mark Lewis

Phone-hacking lawyer Mark Lewis fined £2,500 for posting offensive tweets

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help cover his financial penalty and costs

Nov 27 2018 10:54am