UK politician arrested after Twitter rant against Muslim journalist

A Tory councillor has been arrested and bailed after calling for a Muslim journalist to be stoned to death via Twitter.

Gareth Compton, a 38-year-old barrister, had been reacting to a radio show ­featuring newspaper columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown discussing David Cameron’s visit to China.

‘Can someone please stone Yasmin ­Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing really,’ Compton tweeted on Wednesday.

Only hours after Wednesday’s Radio 5 Live broadcast and the subsequent tweet, the councillor was arrested for an offence under ­section 127 (1a) of the Communications Act 2003. He was released on bail yesterday.

Police had been alerted about the message on the social network site by a member of the ­public.