Newly qualified barristers are being urged to keep their phones in their pockets while conducting criminal trials, after a recently qualified barrister in Northern Ireland was struck off for taking a selfie in the middle of cross-examining a witness.
Anthony Grant, who qualified less than a year ago, took the photo during a trial in Armagh Magistrates' Court in January 2015, where he was defending a man accused of aggravated assault. During cross-examination of the main prosecution witness, who was a former partner of the Defendant, the witness broke down in tears while attempting to answer Grant's questions.
Upon noticing this reaction, Grant is alleged to have performed a fist-pumping gesture, shouted, "Yes! Result!" and leapt over the Bar of the Court to position his face cheek-to-cheek beside the witness before taking the picture.
Although the Judge conducting the trial appears not to have noticed the incident,senior figures in the Northern Ireland justice system, including Justice Minister, David Ford, have severely criticised Grant's actions. "While we remain committed to the principle of justice being open and transparent," said Ford, "it is clear that taking these self-pictures on these portable phone-cameras is not appropriate. To prevent this from happening again, I am continuing with my brilliant scheme to cut legal aid by up to 70%. This will ensure that all lawyers will be too poor to afford such photo-taking devices in the future."
The offending photograph, which showed a wide-smiling Grant giving a thumbs-up to the camera while posing beside the sobbing witness and featured the caption, "Bazinga! Brill x-exam 2day #canthandlethetruth", has now been removed from social media sites.
