Court results put on Twitter by West Midlands Police
19 April 2011 Last updated at 15:16 GMT
The force sent its own staff into court for the morning to tweet cases
Results from cases heard at Birmingham Magistrates' Court have been put on Twitter by West Midlands Police.
Ch Supt Stephen Anderson said there had been a decline in court reporting in recent years.
He said the initiative was designed to make the public more aware of the cases police deal with.
The force sent its own staff into court for a morning on Tuesday to cover the cases and post them online minutes after they had concluded.
It said the updates on the micro-blogging site were the first ever "tweet-a-thon" from a justice centre.
The tweets from the Grade-I listed Victorian courthouse were posted on Tuesday morning.
Police said they had received a "really positive" response from the public.
Their final tweet from court was: "Morning court session finished, hope today's court tweeting has been interesting. Watch this space for more court tweeting soon."
Among the first cases the force tweeted about were a woman accused of stealing flour and cucumber from a shop and a 58-year-old man who admitted a charge of drinking and driving.
'Peace of mind'
He was immediately banned from driving for three years, but will be fully sentenced at a later date.
A 24-year-old man was fined £200 for stealing electric fans and a man and a youth were accused of robbing a boy of a £500 bike.
Other cases tweeted about included a 39-year-old Bromford man remanded to crown court until July accused of serious wounding and criminal damage and a woman who pleaded guilty to shoplifting mascara from a shop by hiding it in her bra.
Speaking before the start of Tuesday's initiative, Mr Anderson said: "We've seen over recent years a bit of a decline in court reporting, particularly through local newspapers as they've faced their own financial constraints.
"That's tended to result in the general public not knowing what happens in court and what the outcomes at courts are."
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said: "West Midlands Police has truly embraced social media in our attempts to engage with audiences we have traditionally struggled to reach, including young people.
"We hope that the 'tweet-a-thon' from Birmingham Magistrates' Court will give people a flavour for the range of offenders we deal with, an insight into the court system and, importantly, peace of mind that justice is being done."
Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
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