Protester announces pie attack on Twitter

A protester, who threw a pie at Rupert Murdoch during Tuesday's parliamentary inquiry over the phone hacking scandal, posted a tweet announcing his intention only minutes before the attack.

The alleged perpetrator, identified as comedian Jonnie Marbles by media reports, sent the following tweet from his account:

"It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat."

In his Twitter biography, the man describes himself as an "activist, comedian, father figure and all-round nonsense".

Mr Murdoch had been questioned by MPs for more than two hours when the attack occurred. Mr Murdoch's wife Wendi and his son James, who was also being interrogated, immediately both jumped to his defence.

It is not known when or how the alleged perpetrator had entered the hearing. He was arrested on the scene and led away by officers.

[Related story: Rupert Murdoch attacked at phone inquiry hearing]

The incident created a flood of related trending terms on Twitter, including piegate, Wendi and Phantom Flan Flinger.

As is often the case with social media networks, users dealt with the rather serious news in a humorous way.

Journalist @benfenton, who was in the room when the attack occurred, tweeted: "Tom Watson tells Rupert M: your wife has a very good left hook. From where I sat 6 feet away, I wouldn't argue with that."

Other commenters like @PukkaPiesSport seemed more concerned with what type of pie had been thrown: "Can confirm it wasn't a Pukka Pie that hit Mr Murdoch - no one would waste a Pukka Pie #piegate."

Meanwhile @lucewebby suggested that "Jonnie Marbles should [have] waited and [thrown] the pie at Rebekah Brooks as that would [have] been much funnier".

With a hat tip to Murdoch's repeated "I don't recall" statements during the hearing, famous satirist Andy Borowitz aka @BorowitzReport tweeted: "In true Murdoch style, Wendi Murdoch now says she "does not recall" jumping the pie dude. #Murdoch #amnesia"

But beyond all the joking, many Twitterers also pointed out the negative impact of the attack. "So Jonnie Marbles made the committee feel sorry for Rupes, and made the nation fall in love with Wendi #nottheplan #whatachump", wrote @emmacox.

Or, according to @jamesrbuk: "As well as being straight out wrong and contemptible, foam attack distracts from Murdochs' evidence. Done 'em a favour. Idiot."