County Court judge Mark Gamble cleared after booting breastfeeding mum from courtroom

A judiciary watchdog investigation has cleared a County Court judge of any wrongdoing after he ejected a breastfeeding mother during a trial.

The Judicial Commission of Victoria received three complaints, arguing the breastfeeding mother had been discriminated against.

A judge has been cleared of any wrongdoing for ejecting a breastfeeding mother from pedophile Malka Leifer’s trial.

County Court judge Mark Gamble was investigated by the judiciary watchdog after he ordered the woman to leave the high-profile March trial, where the ex-school principal was later found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting students.

The decision sparked anger, with the mother saying she was left with feelings of “shame and humiliation”.

The Judicial Commission of Victoria received three complaints, arguing the woman had been discriminated against.

County Court judge Mark Gamble was cleared of any wrongdoing.

But it has now found Judge Gamble’s orders came because of the “related nature” of the evidence in the trial.

During a section of the trial closed from the public, the jury heard “evidence concerning (Leifer) breastfeeding in front of one of the victims shortly before engaging in an act that was the subject of one of the indecent assault charges”.

Leifer was later convicted of the charge, where she’d breastfed her baby in front of her year 12 student in her school office and then assaulted the girl by sucking on her breasts for about 30 minutes.

“The (judge’s) request was made to manage and minimise the high risk of the jury being distracted at a critical stage of the proceeding,” the commission found.

“While the woman concerned may have been impacted by the request, the (judge) did not intentionally ‘single out’ or ‘humiliate’ the woman such that he infringed the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers.”

Judge Gamble submitted a “detailed response” to the commission’s investigation, stating “his request was not related to the broader question of the appropriateness of breastfeeding, whether in public or in a courtroom”.

According to the commission’s ruling, Judge Gamble’s call “was made to fulfil his responsibility to manage the trial and the jury”.

At the time, the mother told the Herald Sun said that she was left feeling “shocked” after she’d attended court to support Leifer’s victims.

“I was made to walk past everyone,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

“As soon as I was out of the courtroom, I started crying. I was shocked. I felt degraded.”

The judge’s decision caused outrage among some in the community, with Australian Breastfeeding Association senior manager Naomi Hull stating it was “against the law to discriminate against someone who is breastfeeding”.

Leifer was in April sentenced to a maximum 15 years behind bars. She will be eligible for parole in June 2029.