Magistrate said he would give defendant a 'hiding'

A magistrate said he would give a "hiding" to a defendant who was shouting about being jailed, a misconduct ruling has revealed.

Paul Gibson "lost his composure" in response to the outburst from the dock during a "difficult and stressful" sentencing hearing, leading to an investigation into his conduct.

He was issued with a sanction of formal advice for misconduct, after apologising and admitting he had "let himself down badly".

Gibson, who is now retired after overseeing cases as part of the South-East Essex bench, said he had "allowed himself to be provoked by the defendant", according to a published ruling about the disciplinary proceedings.

The ruling, from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, did not say which court the incident happened at, or when.

It set out that the magistrate "had made reference to giving the defendant a good hiding and that this arose from a single occasion on which he briefly lost his composure while dealing with a difficult and stressful situation".

The incident was raised again when the defendant mounted an appeal, "extending awareness of the conduct to others present and therefore increasing the impact on public confidence in the magistracy and the seriousness of the incident".

The ruling revealed the magistrate faced a complaint about his conduct when "a verbal altercation" took place when the defendant was given a custodial sentence.

"Mr Gibson was alleged to have said that he would give the defendant 'a hiding if he continued shouting'," the ruling detailed.

Responding to the allegation, Gibson is said to have referred to a "very difficult hearing", setting out how the defendant was shouting abuse at him and his fellow magistrates and then filming on his phone from the dock.

Gibson suggested he had said if the defendant was "anything to do with me, I would give him a hiding", but that the comment had been aimed at his fellow magistrates rather than the defendant himself.

"Mr Gibson said he had allowed himself to be provoked by the defendant, and the difficult and stressful nature of the hearing, and by the fact that he was fearful for his colleagues and himself.

"He said that this had led him to make the statement. He apologised for his actions and said that on reflection he had let himself down badly."

Senior judge Mr Justice Keehan and Lord Chancellor David Lammy agreed on the sanction for misconduct.

The ruling did not set out the sentence handed to the defendant, or whether the defendant's appeal had been successful.

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