Judge Mark Gamble boots another breastfeeding mum from County Court

A judge who removed a breastfeeding mum from his courtroom has asked another nursing mother to leave, claiming it was because her child was crying.

A Victorian judge has booted another breastfeeding mother from his courtroom after she staged a peaceful protest just days after his “appalling” decision to eject another nursing mum.

First-time mum Peta Brunel felt compelled to attend the County Court on Tuesday with her five-month-old daughter, Tilly, after reading about the breastfeeding mum who was left distressed and humiliated when asked to leave Judge Mark Gamble’s courtroom on Thursday.

“I saw all of the press about it and I just felt for the woman involved,” Ms Brunel, 33, from Footscray, told the Herald Sun.

“I am not a protester by any stretch of the imagination. But what she experienced is just crazy. It is appalling. It bugged me all weekend.

Judge Mark Gamble made headlines for asking a breastfeeding woman to leave court last week.

On Tuesday he asked another breastfeeding woman to leave. Picture: David Crosling

“I felt I needed to show some support for her and to make a point that we are now in 2023 – you should be able to feed your baby wherever you want.”

But the former lawyer said she was surprised to discover the courts, nor the judge, had learnt from the criticism they had faced over the earlier ejection.

She too was quickly asked by Judge Gamble to leave the courtroom just after 10am after placing Tilly on her breast to settle her when she became “grizzly”.

Judge Gamble told her the case he was presiding over was at a “critical stage” and any distraction would be “unfair” to the jury and involved parties.

“Madam, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave the court with your baby,” he said.

“Whilst this is an open court, this is a critical stage of the trial in which the defence is presenting their closing address to the jury.

“They need to be able to focus on that and the jury needs to be able to focus on what the defence are saying without distraction.”

Prosecutor Justin Lewis said it was “chiefly” the unsettled nature of the baby that was an issue, while defence barrister Ian Hill KC agreed it would be a “distraction”.

Ms Brunel said: “I thought the courts would have thought long and hard about their position over the weekend, but clearly not.”

She said security had not even mentioned any concerns to her about bringing her baby into the court despite the earlier ejection.

What Ms Brunel didn’t know is that she was not the only woman who had trekked to the court to make a stand against the judge’s decision.

On leaving the court, she met other women who were outside on the steps breastfeeding their babies as part of a peaceful protest.

“We had four people breastfeeding on the steps and not one person looked twice at us, so I’m not sure why the judge thinks this is such a distraction,” she said.

Ms Brunel also took aim at the court’s parenting facilities on the ground floor, posting an image to her LinkedIn profile.

“Am I meant to feed on the toilet or on the sink?” she said, pointing out there was nowhere for a mother to sit and nurse her baby if she wanted to do it in private.

The woman ejected on Thursday did not know about the protest, but when contacted by the Herald Sun, she said she felt a sense of empowerment that women were standing up for their rights.

“It sends a really powerful message: parents are essential and should be celebrated,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

“We’re the ones nurturing the future, literally.

“A better, kinder world tomorrow is dependent on us today. A mother’s caring for her baby should be respected, not shamed.”

She reiterated this is why she spoke out about her incident, in hope of invoking a change in attitude towards mums caring for their babies in their public.

She earlier detailed how she walked out and broke down crying, feeling humiliated and “like she had done something wrong” when asked to leave the court.