Murder Trial: Jail For Contempt Of Court For Man Who Dropped Phone From Public Gallery Balcony

Published by Robert L Senior Reporter, on Saturday, 11th May 2024, at 16:31hrs

A man was sent to prison by Manchester Crown Court after he dropped his mobile phone from the public gallery whilst filming during his brothers murder trial this week.

As Court staff recovered his mobile phone, they noticed that recordings had been taken during the proceedings, and after further investigation discovered footage of the trial from previous days had also been recorded on his mobile phone, meaning he was hailed before a Judge for Contempt of Court.

In a social media post, Greater Manchester Police said, “Rijaan Mohamed (10/10/1997) has been sentenced to seven months in jail for Contempt of Court.

For the past two weeks, we have had a trial ongoing at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court for the murder of Badri Issa on Moss Side Lane East on 25 October 2023.

This week, defendants Raami Mohamed and Kevell Blake were found guilty of murder and manslaughter.

On Friday, 26 April, the proceedings were halted for a short adjournment. Rijaan Mohamed dropped his phone from the balcony public gallery into the courtroom. The phone was recovered and was found to have been recording for over an hour and a half.

Further analysis of his phone showed he had been recording over several days whilst the trial was ongoing.

He pleaded guilty to contempt of court and appeared at Manchester Crown Court to be sentenced today (Friday 10 May).

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Naismith, our Senior Investigating Officer for the murder of Badri Issa said: “This has been an extremely difficult trial for the family of Badri Issa, made more challenging through the conduct of certain individuals.

“Badri Issa lost his life in the cruellest of circumstances, trying to de-escalate a situation, and my thoughts will always remain with his loved ones who have gone through so much.

“The actions of Raajan Mohammed are unacceptable, and I welcome this sentence today. I hope it demonstrates how seriously we take the conduct of defendant’s families inside and outside of the courtroom.”