Billey Longhurst fined for Snapchat photo taken in Coffs Harbour court
The 24-year-old was “absolutely terrified” of what the outcome would be, after sending a photo he took inside a courtroom. See what the magistrate had to say:
Coffs Harbour
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coffs Harbour. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A 24-year-old Coffs Harbour man has been slapped with a $1000 fine for taking a photo inside the Coffs Harbour courthouse and sending it via Snapchat.
Billey Longhurst was before Magistrate Michael Dakin on Wednesday, July 6, charged with ‘use recording device in court premises’.
His lawyer Erica Timmins told the court her client was “absolutely terrified” of what the outcome would be - and that it was not a “deliberate act” and he had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
NSW law stipulates that you cannot use a recording device in a courthouse – meaning no photos, videos or audio recordings can be taken.
The rule applies not just to within a courtroom itself, but all court premises including toilets, halls and corridors.
The maximum penalty a court can hand down is a fine of $22,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.
Ms Timmins told Mr Dakin that her client was engrossed in his phone at the time and that his actions were simply a “lapse in judgement” as he responded to a Snapchat from a friend while he was in court on March 23 on an unrelated traffic matter.
“Snapchat is an application where you send a message with a picture,” Ms Timmins said.
She told the court Longhurst had recently suspended his early childhood studies to help care for his mother who has stage four ovarian cancer so has limited capacity to pay a fine.
But Mr Dakin said the need to set a level of general deterrence “looms large” in these matters.
“I still don’t understand the need to take a photograph of the interior of the courtroom and everybody in it including the magistrate - it’s a real security breach.
“Simply sending a text message would be a far less serious example of this offence, but accompanying it with a photo? - there are messages and warnings everywhere.”
He was convicted and fined $1000.
‘Grave crime:’ Man jailed over stabbing death in KFC car park
The young man who stabbed Canberra teen Lachlan ‘Lachie’ Andrews to death during a brawl at a Northern Rivers KFC has been sentenced to jail but could be out on parole as early as February. Here’s the sentence.
‘A lot of info’: Re-appeal’s positive results into Bowraville murders
Police have received ‘a lot of information’ from in and around Bowraville after re-appealing to the community for answers to three young lives cut short in the 1990s.