A judge who wrongly jailed a family law litigant for contempt behaved like a character from Alice in Wonderland as he conducted the “grossest parody of a hearing”, the Federal Court heard on Monday.

Judge Salvatore Vasta is being personally sued for $2.5 million by the man – a father of two who works in real estate – who said he was so traumatised by his jail stint of six days in Brisbane in 2018 that he can no longer work more than 20 hours a week.