Christopher Ponting, 37, has been sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting contempt of court for filming inside a courtroom during a murder trial, causing it to collapse.
What happened in court
Ponting, of Heol Calfin, Ravenhill, Swansea, attended the murder trial of a man he had befriended while both were previously incarcerated on the same prison wing. He began filming the proceedings, a serious breach of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
His actions led to the collapse of the trial, which had to be restarted. Ponting filmed members of the jury and the judge.
Sentencing and remorse
In mitigation, barrister Ryan Bowen said Ponting was "under no illusion about the seriousness of the situation" and is "genuinely remorseful" after behaving in a way he "now bitterly regrets".
Judge Geraint Walters told Ponting: "You have admitted being in contempt of court. You decided to attend, as a member of the public, a murder case being tried by me of somebody that you had been in prison with. You decided it was a good idea to film the courtroom which involved the jury and the judge. It is a criminal offence to use a camera inside the courtroom. You managed to derail a murder trial. Those who disrupt criminal proceedings must accept that a prison sentence is called for. It was a gross contempt."
