A BRITISH MAN narrowly avoided jail today after getting caught “livestreaming” his court case for using a bogus driving licence in Dublin..

Sam Walker, 41, who has 400,000 followers on TikTok and is from Liverpool, has been staying at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght, Dublin.

He was arrested for motoring offences on 21 September and was granted bail pending his hearing today.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to driving without insurance and possessing fake Irish and British driving licences after Garda Detective Paul Cummins stopped him at Aston Quay in the city-centre.

Judge Gerard Jones noted Walker had no prior convictions in Ireland and imposed a two-year road ban and fines totalling €500.

However, the case took an unexpected turn when a garda spotted Walker livestreaming on his smartphone during the proceedings.

Unauthorised filming or broadcasting from inside Irish courts is banned.

The phone was seized, and he was sent to the cells pending a contempt of court hearing, but he was brought back before the judge a short time later.

The court sergeant said Walker “was live-broadcasting the event to his TikTok account” as Detective Garda Cummins gave evidence.

“To put that into perspective, the TikTok account has in the region of 400,000 followers and it was viewed by approximately 2,500 people at the time,” the court heard.

Garda Anita Murphy told Judge Jones that she observed the defendant outside on his phone using TikTok.

She could see from the screen that the picture was not visible but live comments still were coming through.

The State argued that it was contempt of court to interfere with the integrity of the proceedings, and he continued the broadcast when he returned to the courtroom.

Walker told his solicitor, Brian Keenan, that he had been livestreaming outside the courtroom and accepted he had a significant following.

The defendant claimed he thought he ended the stream when he was called back in, “but I obviously hadn’t”. He pleaded that it was a mistake and maintained he did not realise it was still livestreaming. “All I can do is apologise,” he told the judge.

The court sergeant put it to him that he had the phone facing the prosecuting garda. “No, I can’t remember which way it was; I didn’t know it was live,” he replied, adding that he would not dispute the evidence. He said he thought he had put it in his pocket, but the court heard that gardai had taken it from his hand. “It was a mistake,” he repeated.

Judge Jones wanted more information about his social media following.

Mr Keenan said Walker was involved in charity work in Sierra Leone, which he documented through his social media.

The court sergeant said, “The State would not accept that was the reason for his following online.”

“I’ve been to Sierra Leone for the last six months, west Africa. I’ve installed water for 25,000 in the villages. I documented all this online,” Walker told the judge.

Addressing the contempt of court issue, the solicitor said the court had to be satisfied there was a deliberate act to disrupt the proceedings. Citing a Supreme Court ruling, he argued that the deliberate intention had to be established.

He submitted that his client’s screen was blank, and while he recorded outside, it appeared the stream was ongoing when he re-entered the court without his knowledge.

However, the judge did not accept that version. “I’m sitting here looking down at the court, and I can see with my own two eyes what was going on in this case, and it wasn’t accidental, as far as I’m concerned,” he said, adding that he was holding the accused in contempt of court.

“This is not a public house, this is a court of law, we can’t have this carry on,” he added. He imposed a one-month jail term but suspended it on condition Walker does not reoffend in the next two years.

Legal aid was granted.