Police Scotland have apologised over an insult directed at a Newsnight panellist which appeared on their official Twitter feed during a programme which discussed the social networking site.
A comment posted @policescotland said author and journalist Toby Young “had made a right tit of it” on the BBC Two show on Tuesday night.
The tweet was written after Mr Young took part in a discussion with Labour MP Stella Creasy on threats she has received on Twitter.
Police Scotland wrote on Twitter: “We apologise for the tweet sent to @toadmeister & for any upset caused. The matter is being investigated & we’re reviewing Twitter access.”
In response, Mr Young said that he told police he hopes “the poor, overworked drudge who probably confused his/her personal Twitter feed with the official one he/she is responsible for, wouldn’t get into trouble”.
The journalist said he does not intend to lodge a complaint.
The original Police Scotland message, swiftly deleted, said: “A revelation for #newsnight (UK) viewing tonight seeing @toadmeister make a right tit of it with @stellacreasy #longwaytogoladies.”
Writing in a Daily Telegraph blog, Mr Young said: “I’m on Stella Creasy’s side when it comes to the police needing to follow up genuine threats of rape and murder on Twitter, whether directed against men or women.
“But the police shouldn’t bother to investigate run-of-the-mill troll gibberish – and I hope this silly mistake deters them from doing so in future.
“Sometimes, when someone says something you disagree with on television, it’s hard not to get overexcited and tweet something you later regret, as @policescotland demonstrated.”