TWO people from the North-East have pleaded guilty to sending menacing tweets to a feminist campaigner following her successful campaign to ensure a woman features on British banknotes.

John Nimmo, 25, and Isabella Sorley, 23, admitted a charge of sending the messages in July last year to 29-year-old student Caroline Criado-Perez.

Nimmo, from Moreland Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, and Sorley, from Akenside House, Akenside Hill, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, sent the tweets after the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney revealed that Pride and Prejudice author Jane Austen would replace Charles Darwin as the face of the 10 note.

The announcement was hailed as a "brilliant day" for women by Ms Criado-Perez who led a high profile campaign to ensure a female face on British banknotes in the wake of the Bank's announcement in April that social reformer Elizabeth Fry was to be dropped from the £5 note in favour of Winston Churchill.