Twitter JP "should have stayed"

A leading magistrate who quit the bench after being reported for posting details of cases he dealt with on the Twitter social networking site should have stayed, according to shropshirestar.com readers.

The poll run by the Shropshire Star, which revealed Professor Steve Molyneux's resignation on Saturday, resulted in 75 per cent of respondents saying he should not have resigned.

• See: Magistrate quits in Twitter row

The majority of comments were also in defence of the 54-year-old from Oakengates, Telford, who signs himself Profontheprowl on the Twitter site.

Mr Molyneux, a Telford magistrate for 16 years, posted on the site regularly during breaks in court proceedings.

A fellow magistrate discovered the 54-year-old's Twitterings and complained. Mr Molyneux decided to resign after the matter was passed to the Shropshire Justices Advisory Committee.

He has, however, denied any wrongdoing and said that he only wrote about matters already in the public domain.

A website comment from "Rob" said: "Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction by the establishment to me.

"All the Tweets contained were freely available in the public domain and just the kind of thing that makes Twitter what it is."

"telblue" wrote: "Get back on the bench, I hear you're a top chap!

"You've done nothing wrong."

Neither Mr Molyneux or the Shropshire Justices Advisory Committee were available for comment today.