Show caption Lord chief justice, Lord Thomas, said young people who used Facebook to ‘mock the administration of justice ... must be deterred by severe sentences’. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Crime Teenager jailed for posting murder trial images on Facebook Damien Parker-Stokes, 19, given 15 months for glorifying friend Ryan Sheppard’s sentencing for murder at Bristol court Press Association Wed 13 Jul 2016 10.09 EDT Share on Facebook

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A teenager who took photographs in court as his friend was being jailed for murder and then glorified the killer on social media has been given a 15-month sentence.

The term of detention was handed out to Damien Parker-Stokes, 19, by the lord chief justice, Lord Thomas, who warned of the severe penalties faced by others who take illegal photographs of court proceedings and then post them online.

Thomas, sitting at the high court in London with Mr Justice Ouseley, said young people who used Facebook to “mock the administration of justice” and “cause considerable concern” to a victim’s family “must be deterred by the most severe sentences”.

He said: “The misuse that can be made of mobile phones to take photographs and videos is a real and serious threat to the administration of justice, and this court is very concerned to ensure that everyone understands that taking photographs in court can have a great impact on the administration of justice.

“Severe deterrent sentences are required to bring home the gravity of such wilful misconduct.”

At a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Thomas announced: “This court will punish with very severe sentences anyone who photographs in court and who aggravates that offence by posting them on the internet.”

A second youth, Kyle Cox, 18, who admitted contempt, was bound over by the two judges to keep the peace and not commit any further offences for six months.

Proceedings against the pair followed the illegal taking of photos at Bristol crown court in August 2014 for the sentencing of their friend, Ryan Sheppard, and the uploading of images on Facebook.

Ben Watson, for the solicitor general Robert Buckland, told the court at a previous hearing that the pictures were accompanied by comments that “vilified” the judicial process and “glorified” Sheppard, who beat the engineer Mark Roberts, 35, to death in an “unprovoked, sustained and brutal” attack in Weston-super-Mare in October 2013.

Sheppard, who was 17 at the time of the crime and pleaded guilty, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years and three months.

Cox was present in court to hear the sentencing decision in his case, but Parker-Stokes failed to attend. Parker-Stokes had committed an extremely grave contempt of court, said Lord Thomas. He had not made any apology, and his “wilful” failure to attend had shown unbelievable contempt for the court.

Thomas said the court took into account the full apology made by Cox, and his age. His conduct was also “far less serious” than that of Parker-Stokes.

Parker-Stokes took a series of five photographs and a video of Sheppard in the dock. He then posted one image of Sheppard on Sheppard’s Facebook page with a comment that included the words: “Respect g at least u had the balls to admit it ...”

Cox uploaded the same image on his own Facebook page with the words: “Ride or die certified south west g.” He also uploaded an image he had taken of a judge in a different court – who did not sentence Sheppard – with the comment: “Fuk (sic) the judge!”