A UK man who stabbed his brother has been jailed by a judge using an iPhone

What you need to know

• Carlisle Judge Nicholas Barker was trying to sentence a man for a stabbing.
• He was using Skype on an unnamed notebook when difficulties struck.
• He resorted to using an iPhone to complete the sentencing.

Is this a first in the UK?

A Carlisle judge may have become the first in the UK to sentence someone via iPhone after their computer refused to work during a Skype call. The whole thing was being done remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but even judges can't make everything work properly at the first time of asking.

Judge Nicholas Barker ended up using his iPhone to complete the Skype call, sentencing former soldier Andrew Ryan to 26 months in jail according to local news reports.

Judge Nicholas Barker made what was probably legal history during the Skype court hearing yesterday, resorting to his iPhone when technological problems conspired to prevent him from using his laptop as has been the usual practice during the lockdown court hearings.

You can read the background of the attack and court case in the News and Star report but it does pose an interesting question – is this the first time someone's been sentenced via iPhone. In the UK, at least.

Answers on a postcard. Or in the comments, if you prefer.

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