Woman fined for Michael Le Vell trial tweet

A woman who admitted tweeting the identity of the alleged victim in the trial of Coronation Street's Michael Le Vell has been fined £110 today.

Mr Le Vell was acquitted of all charges but at the end of the trial, Deborah Armstrong, 37, wrote on her Twitter account: "I hope Michael Le Vell's victim ... now goes public" - and identified the female involved.

The tweet, sent using the handle @DebbieJ1976, was re-tweeted and when pointed out to her that her tweet was breaking the law she told others: "You are not my judge and jury."

Armstrong, of St Gregory's Close, Bedale, North Yorkshire, was fined after pleading guilty to an offence under the Sexual Offences Amendment Act on September 10 last year, of publishing information that could lead to members of the public identifying a complainant in a sexual offences case.

Passing sentence, District Judge Khalid Qureshi said: "It's not like the old days where it's a quiet chat in the pub, this becomes public within minutes."

The law gives lifelong anonymity to anyone if they are the complainant in a sex offence case and nothing must be published that can identify them.