A “foolish” and “thrill-seeking” former Canterbury College student has been fined £500 after sharing images of a court trial on Snapchat.

Kelvin Mapungwana, from Chestfield, was charged with contempt of court after taking pictures and a video while sitting in the public gallery at Canterbury Crown Court on August 23.

He then shared photographs of the prosecuting counsel and police officers with friends via the social media app, while boasting: “I ain’t meant to have my phone out in here.”

A second image was shared with the label “opps”, which Mapungwana’s defence lawyer explained was a phone auto-correction of a playfully-intended “oops”, rather than a more sinister abbreviation highlighting the “opposition”.

The lawyer said: “He knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong.”

But he continued that “there was no malevolent or sinister intent here,” saying that the antics had instead been “ill-conceived and ill-judged thrill-seeking”.

Mapungwana, who took the images from an upper gallery, was caught in the act by a security guard and ordered to hand over his mobile phone immediately.

The court heard how he is expecting a child with his girlfriend, who lives at home with him and his parents.

Taking an apology made by Mapungwana into account, Judge James O’Mahony said: “In a moment of youthful stupidity, he took images in the way that so many of that generation do now.”

However the judge added that although there might not have been malicious intent, the prosecuting counsel would not have known that.

“I’m quite sure that she was very upset,” he continued.

The 24-year-old was fined £500, to be paid in instalments of £100 a month.​