Magistrate sanctioned after threatening to give defendant a ‘good hiding’
A judge suggested he would provide “good cover” for a defendant who shouted he was going to jail, a misconduct ruling has revealed.
Paul Gibson “lost his cool” in response to outburst from the courtroom during a “tough and stressful” sentencing hearing and launched an investigation into his conduct.
He was given the sanction of a formal recommendation for misconduct after apologizing and admitting he had “let himself down badly”.
Mr Gibson said he “allowed himself to be provoked by the defendant” with his comment, according to a published decision into the disciplinary inquiry.
The judge noted that the magistrate “referred to providing good cover for the defendant, and this stemmed from a single incident in which he briefly lost his composure while dealing with a difficult and stressful situation.”
The incident was brought up again when the defendant appealed in order to “ensure that awareness of the conduct is spread to others present and therefore increase its impact on public confidence in judges and the seriousness of the incident.”
Mr Gibson has now retired as a magistrate but remains on the supplementary list and previously presided over criminal court cases as part of the South East Essex Bench.
The ruling reveals that he faced a complaint about his conduct “when a verbal altercation occurred between Mr Gibson and the defendant during the defendant’s custodial sentence”.
“Mr. Gibson allegedly told the defendant that ‘he would hide if he continued shouting,'” the decision said.
Responding to the allegation, Mr Gibson is said to have spoken of a “very difficult hearing”, stating how the defendant hurled abuse at him and his fellow judges and then took a video of the defendant on his phone.
Mr Gibson stated that the defendant had said “if it has anything to do with me I will hide it”, but this comment was directed towards his fellow judges rather than the defendant himself.
“Mr Gibson said he allowed himself to be provoked by the defendant, the difficult and stressful nature of the hearing and his fear for his colleagues and himself.
“He said this led him to make this statement. He apologized for his actions and said he felt badly let down by this.”
Senior judge Mr Justice Keehan and Lord Chancellor David Lammy agreed on the misconduct sanction.
In the decision published by the Department of Judicial Conduct Investigations, it is not stated in which court or when the incident took place, nor does it specify the punishment given to the defendant, nor does it explain whether the objection was successful or not.
