28 days for contempt of court

Diane Joyce at Stuff reports:

An outspoken judge has jailed a man for 28 days for swearing at him from the public gallery, saying he’s had enough of criminals and their supporters being rude and arrogant.

Judge Tony Adeane, a district court judge working in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, said Gisborne had a “particular problem” with bad behaviour in court, after he jailed the man for abusing him.

Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson said yesterday that members of the public yelling out to a judge was relatively new.

However, Law Society president Jonathan Temm said such behaviour had become “par for the course” in many courts, although it remained “very uncommon” for someone to be jailed for abusing a judge.

Perhaps it will become less common after this. My first reaction was that 28 days might be a bit over the top, but then I saw the specifics:

Grant, 26, of Gisborne, was in the public gallery to support a friend appearing in court. He was unhappy at the outcome of his friend’s appearance and, just as he was leaving, yelled out to Judge Adeane: “Is that all, c…?”

If you call the Judge a cunt in court, then you absolutely should be jailed for contempt.