Lawyer fined for calling magistrate a 'complete cretin'

A lawyer who called a magistrate a “complete cretin” during a trial is a bully who should have been jailed, a judge said today after imposing a hefty fine.

Colin Lovitt, a leading Australian lawyer and founder of a criminal lawyers association, was fined €5,699 and ordered to pay costs after he was convicted of contempt in Queensland.

A year ago, when a Queensland magistrate made a ruling against Lovitt during a trial, the lawyer turned to reporters and said: “This bloke’s a complete cretin. Surely they can’t be all like this.”

Later, when the magistrate made a ruling in his favour, he said: “I take it back. He’s not a complete cretin.”

Supreme Court Judge Richard Chesterman told the lawyer today he had disrupted justice at a cost to the public when he should have been setting an example.

“Bullying is a most unattractive human characteristic and has no place at all in a court of law,” Judge Chesterman said in Canberra.

“The conduct was appalling. I would have thought jail was appropriate but the attorney-general has not asked for it.”