Man took photos in Newcastle court and posted onto internet

Kane Thompson compounded his actions by uploading all three images, taken from the public gallery at Newcastle Crown Court, onto the internet.

The court was told that not only did Thompson capture his older brother Liam, on the images, but they also, inadvertently, featured two of his co-accused, Jack Hardy and Raymond Matthew, standing alongside him in the dock, plus a custody officer on duty during the hearing.

While the court heard that they were taken out of “immature foolishness” and not with “malicious intent”, Judge Edward Bindloss described it as, “highly reckless”, with the potential to prejudice the trial, interfere with justice and intimidate the four people on the images.

He said that imposing an immediate prison sentence on Kane Thompson would act as a deterrent to anyone else considering taking photographs in court during live proceedings.

Chris Moran, prosecuting, said the images were taken on Monday (February 26) when a trial was due to start for Liam Thompson, Hardy and Matthew, plus three 17-year-old co-accused, on a charge of violent disorder, stemming from the incident in which their ‘associate’, Gordon Gault, suffered a fatal knife wound.

The photographs were uploaded onto Kane Thompson’s Instagram account, which has 381 followers, and directly onto his linked Facebook account, with an unknown number of followers.

Although they would have been automatically deleted from the Instagram account after 24 hours, Thompson, himself, deleted them before then and was said to have smashed his phone.

Mr Moran said it was not clear how far afield they were distributed, but a screenshot was taken by one recipient and re-posted, which led to a member of the public reporting it to police.

When it was brought to Judge Bindloss’s attention, on Tuesday, the defendant, who was back at court to observe proceedings involving his brother, was arrested and detained in custody.

Thompson apologised for his actions and accepted he knew taking photographs in court was not permitted.

But Judge Bindloss remanded him in custody to allow inquiries to take place into the incident.

Thompson was brought back into court and appeared in the dock, himself, this afternoon (Wednesday), having spent a night in custody and much of yesterday and today in the court cells.

He admitted two counts of Contempt of Court, one relating to the taking of the photographs and the other by uploading them to the internet.

Mairi Clancy, in mitigation, said: “His case is that this was an extremely stupid and immature thing to do, nothing more than naivety and stupidity.

“There was no intention or aim to intimidate or interfere with a trial.

“The fact that the dock officer was on (the images) was inadvertent."

She said the fact other defendants and the dock officer appeared in the images was, "collateral damage" and unintended.

“He’s an habitual poster on social media and accepts behaving incredibly stupidly.

“He deleted the photographs as soon as he realised the severity of what he had done.

“What he did was nothing more sinister than immature foolishness.

“He belongs to a generation where everyday life is posted on social media platforms.

“He didn’t come to court intending to interfere with justice.

“It was his brother in the dock.

“It was light-hearted. He posted somewhat silly captions and sunglasses.

“It was not intended to insult anyone or diminish from the proceedings.”

Miss Clancy said as it emerged, he did not prejudice proceedings, as guilty pleas to an alternative charge of affray were admitted by all six defendants in the case, who will be sentenced later in March.

The court heard the defendant has not been in trouble since 2019, as a youth in the eyes of the law, but Judge Bindloss pointed out that offence was for witness intimidation.

Urging the judge not to impose further time in custody, Miss Clancy added: “These were actions on impulse and he apologises to the court.”

But Judge Bindloss said the knowledge of defendants being photographed in the dock while still potentially on trial was, “a matter of great concern to the court.”

The judge told Thompson: “Miss Clancy said on realising the trouble you were in you destroyed the phone and deleted the Instagram ‘story’ within 24 hours.

“It’s not clear how widely they have been circulated.

“It’s said you meant no more than a few playful shots of your brother and your emojis are supportive of that.

“But you knew the taking of photographs in court was not permitted.

“You knew your brother was on trial and placing them on the internet and with a previous conviction for witness intimidation, I reject your claim of naivety and foolishness.

“You were highly reckless that this trial would be disrupted and Mr Hardy, Mr Matthew and the dock officer may have been intimidated by your actions.

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“This is a case where you recklessly risked interfering with justice.”

Imposing the six-month immediate prison sentence, Judge Bindloss said it would have been nine months, but for the defendant’s admissions, "at the first opportunity".

He added that Thompson should expect to serve up to three months behind bars before being released on licence for the remainder of the sentence.