A WOMAN who took a photograph on her mobile phone in a courtroom has been found guilty of contempt.

Joanne Tate was arrested and kept in custody for about five hours for using her phone to snap a friend's son in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court.

Just as Judge Andrew Patience, QC, was about to enter court, dock officer Patricia McCarthy saw Tate raise her phone to head height and point it towards the dock. There was then a blue flash.

Tate was arrested and the phone was seized and examined. When she appeared for sentence on Monday, a blurred picture was shown to the judge.

The mother denied contempt of court, claiming that she was trying to turn off the phone and in her haste hit the wrong button. Tate, of Kingsley Road, Whitstable, accused the dock officer of lying.

Judge Patience fined Tate £25 with an alternative of one day in jail. As she had spent about five hours in custody, he said, she would not have to pay the fine.

He told Tate: "Courts do not allow photographs to be taken while in session. This is an increasing problem these days and courts take a very serious view if pictures are taken.

"I don't accept what you say. I think this was an act of folly and stupidity."