A teenager appeared in court this afternoon after he was accused of filming the Jericho murder sentencing.
Ryan Njoroge, 18, had been led back into courtroom one at Oxford Crown Court in handcuffs within minutes of killer Greg Muinami being jailed for life for the murder of Alex Innes.
The teenager was taken down to the cells and brought back up to court at 2pm.
Judge Ian Pringle KC told the teenager: “You were present this morning in this court, number one court at Oxford Crown Court, when you were seen to be using a mobile phone.
“I am sure you will know that that is not allowed in a court building let alone a court itself.
“Fortunately, one of the people in the court this morning saw you doing that [allegedly filming] and reported it to the police and that is why you were arrested and that is why you’ve been kept in custody so as to allow the police to examine your phone."
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The Recorder of Oxford added: “Well, they have examined it and it’s right to say that there is no record of any court proceedings on that phone.
“However, there is a record that that phone was, during the course of the hearing this morning, on Snapchat.
“As you, I’m sure, will know that you can record something on Snapchat, take your finger or thumb off the recording device and immediately send it.
“And of course that’s what you may have done. But I can’t to any degree of certainty say that’s what you’ve done.
“Of course, if somebody should come into possession and report it to the police that they have received on their phone a copy of the proceedings that took place this morning, we’ll know who was responsible.
“But I’m not going to take the matter any further at the moment.
“As I say if we get a report there is a film of this morning’s proceedings, you will no doubt get a visit from the police.”
He said Njoroge would be released from the cells and no further action taken.
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