A judge cracked down when a Derryman answered his mobile phone in a crowded courthouse – after being ordered not to.

Paddy Sweeney, a 36-year-old local, was sent down to the cells after disobeying the judge at Derry crown court.

Sweeney had been ordered by the judge to turn his phone off when it ran as he watched a case from the public gallery.

Instead he answered the phone and took the call – prompting the judge to have him arrested immediately.

Sweeney was detained for two hours in the court cells then hit with a $300 fine for ‘wilfully interrupting the court’ and warned not to do it again.

He could have faced a maximum penalty of one month in jail and a $4,000 fine according to Journal.ie