A District Court sitting in Ennis, Co Clare was suspended today when a man took down his pants and exposed himself to the judge.

Brian Joyce, 21, turned his back to the judge and slapped his bare rear end, before turning to face the judge, shouting and exposing his penis, the Irish Times reports.

Mr Joyce had undertaken the acts following the refusal of his bail for his brother, John, 18. John Joyce was in court on charges of assault of a 17-year-old man.

Gardaí restrained the man and his brother, with one garda assaulted during the ensuing scuffle. There were five gardaí in court at the time and reinforcements were called to deal with the situation. A large number of family and friends of the accused were in the court at the time.

Court business was suspended for 20 minutes while the situation was dealt with.

Insp Tom Kennedy told the Irish Times: "What happened in court today was unbelievable. In all my time working in court, I never seen an indecent display like I witnessed today.

"What happened was incredible and to see someone moon at a judge and then show his genitals to the court and hold them in his hand was an affront to the administration of justice in the court.

"Why someone would do that, I just don’t know."