I’m not too sure on courtroom regulations over in the United States, but over here in the United Kingdom the rule is you don’t take pictures when in court. However for one unlucky BlackBerry owner it appears snapping a picture when in court with his BlackBerry smartphone has had dire consequences, as he’s been sent to prison.

According to an article over on Ubergizmo by way of the BBC, 19-year old Paul Thompson was in court to see a friend face charges of armed robbery against an off duty cop of all people, and as a result of getting a text from his girlfriend, Paul snapped an image of the court to let her know where he was.

Unfortunately for Thompson, although he was apparently warned, faced a contempt of court charge that carries a possible maximum sentence of two years in the nic. Thus Judge Barbara Mensah jailed Thompson for a period of two months.

Thompson didn’t just go to jail because of taking a picture with his smartphone though, as apparently he was repeatedly disruptive during the trial and was warned on more than one occasion.

Thompson’s brother Lee says, “I think it’s terrible what has happened to my brother,” and also says, “We had to get into his flat on Friday afternoon to get Paul’s puppy and I had to return it to the person he’d bought it from. He’d only just got it and he paid £150 for it. Paul loved that dog and now when he comes out of prison he won’t have it because it’s been sold on.”

Well if one will continue to disrupt proceedings in a courtroom one can expect to be punished for such actions, and I’m pretty sure snapping a picture with his BlackBerry didn’t help his case. Currently Thompson is being held in Bedford prison.

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