In the dog house: Barrister's barking dog forces court to take break

"The look on the barrister’s face appeared to be one of confusion and embarrassment,” a court official said

As the barrister was explaining to the three judges of the court why he believed the trial judge had erred when he refused his client’s change of plea from guilty to not guilty, the sound of a dog repeatedly barking could be heard over the remote link. File photo

A barrister's barking dog forced a temporary pause in a remote hearing at the Court of Appeal, in what was one of the last video-link cases at the court before a return to physical hearings.

The three-judge court has been hearing cases remotely since April 2020 in response to the threat posed to the public health by Covid-19. Last week however, the appellate court decided physical hearings at the Criminal Courts of Justice would resume when it emerged the Government was on the brink of ending many of the pandemic restrictions.