Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, has temporarily retired from Twitter on legal advice after her involvement in the misidentification of Lord McAlpine in a sexual abuse case and the naming a child abduction victim through the platform as well.
Bercow, who has over 60,000 followers on Twitter, is understood to be one of thousands of people targeted by the lawyers of Lord McAlpine for her inference through the microblogging site that he sexually abused young boys – a claim that has since been withdrawn.
On Sunday Night, Bercow then took to the site to ask for an update on a schoolgirl who ran away with her teacher, in the process naming the girl, which is contrary to Section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act and could be seen as a contempt of court.
Following the latest gaffe, Bercow has been advised to cease Tweeting.
Speaking to The Times, she said: “Apparently, I shouldn’t have tweeted that. You need a law degree to be on Twitter nowadays. It’s ridiculous.”
She added that her Twitter feed was on hold and apologised for the breach of the court order.
“Before I go back on Twitter, I may have to take a course in media law,” she concluded.
However, last night she sent the following message; “Looking at tweets but (sadly) can't reply (#lawyerswhippedmyass #asdidMrB). So text/email/DM me if you're a mate. Hope 2 b back soon.xx” (sic)