Foul-mouthed magistrate reprimanded after telling witness to get out of court
Jonathan Dannatt JP said ‘this is shit’ after the bench delivered its verdict in a case.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An experienced magistrate has been issued with a misconduct warning after he swore in court and told a witness “I am sick of seeing you, get out”.
Jonathan Dannatt said “this is shit” after the bench had delivered its verdict in a case, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) found.
The witness was left feeling “shocked and embarrassed” by the incident, the investigation was told.
Mr Dannatt, JP of the Staffordshire Bench, who had a previously unblemished record of 17 years as a magistrate, including 14 as a presiding justice, said his outburst arose from his concerns about the impact of the sentence on the defendant and his family, and the reaction of the witness to this result.
The risk of reputational damage to the magistracy was significant and the witness experienced emotional distress
He accepted saying “this is shit” and asking the witness to leave in a manner that may have appeared abrupt, but told the investigation he did not remember telling the witness “I am sick of seeing you, get out of here”.
Mr Dannatt said he was “horrified that he had behaved in this way”, and was “profoundly sorry and would ensure it never happened again”.
The JCIO ruled that Mr Dannatt did say “this is shit” and told the witness to “get out”, which amounted to serious misconduct.
“Mr Dannatt’s language and behaviour significantly breached the expected standards of conduct,” the disciplinary statement said.
“The risk of reputational damage to the magistracy was significant and the witness experienced emotional distress.”
A spokesman for the JCIO said: “Mr Justice Keehan, on behalf of the Lady Chief Justice and with the Lord Chancellor’s agreement, has issued Mr Jonathan Dannatt JP of the Staffordshire Bench with a formal warning for misconduct.”