Judge called a ‘witch in black’ via audio-visual link

as ‘‘the broken man’’ from the outset, before turning his attention to court officials.

‘‘F... you sergeant,’’ he said, before addressing Judge Jo Rielly. ‘‘Ms Rielly, my sweetheart, how are you?’’

Judge Rielly then asked the man, ‘‘Mr Thompson, can you see and hear me?’’, to which Thompson replied, ‘‘Yeah, I can see a witch in black.’’

Thompson’s lawyer,

Josh

Smith, attempted to read out the charges for which Thompson was appearing, but he was interrupted by his client, who said, ‘‘I’m presenting myself, I don’t need to be represented.’’

The judge then attempted to address the defendant, but Thompson continued his outbursts saying ‘‘f... me, I’m f...ed’’, causing Judge Rielly to warn him she would have the hearing in his absence.

‘‘So what’s happening today? I haven’t been told anything,’’ Thompson said, before the judge asked him whether he wanted the assistance of his lawyer or if he wanted to represent himself.

‘‘What does it matter, let him go hard then,’’ Thompson replied.

The repeated outbursts lead to some quiet chuckles within the courtroom.

Thompson was arrested on May 20 and was charged with breaching a protection order, being in unlawful possession of ammunition and being in possession of a firearm without being a firearms licence holder.

Thompson had been scheduled to be resentenced on Monday on other charges, after a review of his community work. Police opposed bail following the new charges.

The judge remanded Thompson in custody to appear again on June 20 to plea.