A JUDGE who was taunted online by a man for twice sparing him jail after a street attack said he was “laughing out loud” as he finally locked him up.
Norman Ritchie QC gave David Newlands a nine-month prison sentence after being told he had ignored a court order and boasted about it on social media.
Newlands had been ordered to complete 150 hours of community service for punching a vulnerable man in Glasgow last year, but refused to perform the unpaid work and was twice given another chance.
Mr Ritchie jailed 24-year-old Newlands after hearing he posted on Facebook: “I’m out bro, easy”.
Sentencing Newlands, the judge told him: “As they say, LOL.”
Newlands was among eight people who appeared in court after Ivor Miller, an innocent man who has learning difficulties, was called “a beast” and chased until he threw himself out of a window.
During that hearing at the High Court in Glasgow in January, Mr Ritchie described the group as “a pack of animals”.
Newlands, from Glasgow, refused to carry out the unpaid work and later posted on Facebook: “A got a high court conviction and they never sent me to jail. Instead gave me a community order.
“Told them to stick it...so got sent back to court and what do they dae? The judge says ‘Mr Newlands I would refer to you as an idiot’..then what does he dae? He geez me it again...probation am no dayn it simple!!!”
After being returned to court, Newlands admitted breaching the order.
Judge Ritchie told him: “I gave you two chances. You didn’t take the chances.”
Newlands, who is already serving an eight-month prison term for assault and breach of the peace, will serve the additional nine months once his current sentence ends.
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