Ryanair has welcomed a US District Court ruling against an anonymous Twitter user who posted a bomb threat last year.

The Irish carrier got a number of subpoenas from the social media site to identify the man.

Brian Lake from Pennsylvania was identified as the person responsible for posting the threat.

Using the handle @GunnexGod, he wrote: "Hello @Ryanair, you have 15 minutes before I commit the biggest terror attack the UK has ever seen on one of your planes. Be ready".

The account, which posted the threat in February 2016, has since been suspended.

The US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has awarded the airline US$284,148 (€248,889) in damages, including punitive damages.