Dancing in Court

From BBC News 24/11/11:

A man who posted video on the internet of his stepmother dancing on seats in the lobby of a court in Cornwall has apologised to a judge.

Shane Curnow, 24, from Stithians, faced contempt of court proceedings after taking the footage in Truro Crown Court and posting it on Facebook.

Good ol’ Stithians. There’s a steam rally held out there if I recall correctly. (As a child, I remember being dragged around there once by relatives and it was rather like pulling teeth. The noise, smell and utter drudgery of a steam rally is hard to beat).

Mr Curnow's lawyer told a judge that his client believed filming bans only applied to courtrooms, not buildings.

Mistake of law, never a defence, sadly. Darn it. Still, worth running up the judge’s flagpole in mitigation I suppose. (No, that’s not a euphemism).

Mr Curnow said he was very sorry. The judge accepted his apology.

Well, shiver m’ timbers and bless his heart: he’s very sorry. That’s all right then. (And I love the Cornish-ed up surname by the way – you can’t get much more Kernow than Curnow. Write that down if you want: it’s an original thought.

Mr Curnow filmed his stepmother on his mobile phone while he was supporting her and his father when they were making a court appearance.

After recording the footage in September, he posted it on Facebook, calling it "Bored at court".

The use of cameras in court buildings is currently banned by the 1925 Criminal Justice Act.

Staff were made aware of the footage in October, and Judge Barry Cotter QC ordered Mr Curnow to face contempt of court proceedings.

Joss Ticehurst, representing Mr Curnow, of Collins Park, Stithians, said his client filmed his stepmother because "he felt that she looked ridiculous" and he had uploaded it on to the internet "as a means of showing her how stupid she looked".

Sounds like the usual stepmother-stepson relationship then.

More to the point, what the heck was the stepmother doing prancing around like an demented Ginger Rogers in a court building? It’s kind of one of the rules that you aren’t allowed to dick around in the Crown Court.  I wonder if security guards rugby-tackled her to the ground. Ooh – I hope excessive force wasn’t used!!  ;-)

Mr Curnow's father and stepmother were not identified in court and their reason for being there originally was not said.

Grin.