A Sheffield Crown Court judge was forced to stop a hearing last week after loud pornography noises were heard over the common video platform, with the judge reported to have banned further video appearances.
Recorder Jeremy Richardson KC was hearing a case in which 13 defendants and a prison officer are accused of smuggling drugs and a mobile phone into prison. As first reported by The Times, some defendants were in court, but some appeared via the common video platform, which is an online network that gives His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the judiciary the ability to manage and conduct cases digitally.
A barrister told The Times that porn noises were heard during the hearing, with the judge desperately attempting to get the person responsible to mute their microphone. When that was unsuccessful, he ended the proceedings and ruled that future proceedings would not be held via CVP, including cases not related to the current one in hand. It is reported that the noises were narrowed down to a solicitor in the case, who said his computer had been hacked.
