Doncaster sticker seller Phillip Hartley jailed for contempt of court Facebook posts

Phillip Anthony Hartley, 38, was sentenced to ten months in prison and ordered to pay £20,000 costs after he was found guilty in his absence at Sheffield Crown Court this afternoon.

The case had been brought by the Government’s Attorney General following a number of Facebook posts and videos in 2020 and 2021 where Hartley repeatedly committed contempt by referring to a legal case he was involved in in a series of long-winded and foul-mouthed live video feeds.

He was also found guilty of contempt by refusing to attend court on a number of occasions for the case to be dealt with.

After being brought to the dock, Hartley, representing himself, insisted on being referred to as ‘the man Phillip’ announcing: “I present myself as the man Phillip. I am a sovereign child of God brought here under duress. I have been kidnapped and held hostage and forced to perform as a person.

"These are not legal proceedings, you are committing treason by refusing to deal with me as a man. I am an honourable man, the man Phillip. You are my servant.”

Ignoring Hartley’s protestations, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, sitting as a judge from the High Court of Justice, sent him back to the cells on several occasions as he constantly disrupted the proceedings by shouting and swearing.

Judge Richardson eventually found sticker seller Hartley, formerly of Christ Church Road but who had recently moved to an address in Mexborough, guilty in his absence.

He said that Hartley had used language in the videos about the courts that was ‘rather less than courteous’ after he had been ordered to remove a series of posts from Facebook by the Attorney General's office which were in serious contempt and had bragged on Facebook about skipping court

Describing the case as ‘extremely long and difficult,’ handing down the sentence, Judge Richardson said: “In respect of the very serious contempt perpetrated, I commit him to prison for ten months.”

Hartley, who describes himself as the #LoveCampaigner and a man of God, was also ordered to pay £20,000 costs.