A Slow Day in Court

Having endured more than the odd day covering Magistrates Court myself as CDO, especially on a hot sunny day, I can fully appreciate where Mark Naylor, the now famous court reporter for the Grimsby Telegraph, is coming from:- 

Woman breaking wind cuts through sombre silence of Grimsby courtroom

The sombre silence of a Grimsby courtroom was rudely broken when a woman suddenly broke wind very loudly from the public gallery. The unexpected and highly unwelcome interruption to the dignity of the court day proved to be the dubious highlight of an otherwise dull day at Grimsby Magistrates' Court.

It is not the first time that the loud breaking of wind has abruptly shattered the order and peacefulness of judicial proceedings in Court Four. On another infamous occasion, those present in court struggled to keep straight faces as the male culprit, also sitting in the public gallery, shattered the silence with his unwelcome contribution to – or comment on – the proceedings. This time, as then, nothing was said publicly about the unexpectedly loud sound but nervous twitches and stifled grins were seemingly the order of the day.

Noisy flatulence interrupts court session in Grimsby
By This is Grimsby | Posted: January 31, 2013

The quiet dignity of a court session was abruptly disturbed when someone loudly broke wind in the public gallery.

Nobody apologised for the noisy interruption – and there were anxious looks from people nearby who feared they might get the blame. Grimsby magistrates pretended they had not heard a thing, and in a seemingly unrelated incident a few minutes later, all the lights went out for a few seconds before flickering back on again.

There was an unwelcome sequel this time, however, because the same woman returned to the courtroom in the afternoon, prompting emergency evasive action to be taken by some. One male observer, originally sitting unknowingly next to the culprit on the front row of the public gallery, was told about what had happened and hastily moved back a row to provide a bit more distance in the event of a second unexpected event.

He also took cover outside the courtroom door later on during proceedings in a wise pre-emptive bid to avoid being in the firing line in the event of an ear-splitting encore. He later suffered the indignity of being blamed by others for being the one responsible for the noise in the first place.

--oo00oo--

Internet laps up 'mind-blowing' story on woman breaking wind in Grimsby courtroom

Our report on the rude interruption to proceedings at Grimsby Magistrates' Court was read by over 100,000 people on Friday alone. News of a woman breaking wind in a Grimsby courtroom swept the internet on Friday.

The unexpected and highly unwelcome interruption to the dignity of the court day proved to be the dubious highlight of an otherwise dull day at the court. It is not the first time that the loud breaking of wind has abruptly shattered the order and peacefulness of judicial proceedings in Court Four.

Yesterday, scores of internet sites and social media users posted links to the story and offered their thoughts on 'windgate'.

(That's enough - Ed)