Cell phone's for you...it's the judge

According to several British papers, 44-year-old Aftab Ahmed was handed a groundbreaking sentence from the Ipswich Crown Court. But it's not the sentence itself that's been making headlines. It's the way the sentence was delivered: over Ahmed's mobile phone.

Ahmed was due in court Wednesday to hear his punishment for offenses related to a bankruptcy claim he filed in 2002. But on his way to the courthouse, he found himself stuck in miles of traffic resulting from the crash of a small plane. He realized he wouldn't make the courthouse on time and called his attorney.

When Judge Caroline Ludlow heard the news, the enterprising jurist decided it would be a waste of government money to reschedule the sentencing. So she got on the phone with Ahmed, confirmed he wasn't violating the law by driving while on a cell phone and handed down the sentence of 140 hours of community service and prosecution fees.

So is this the start of a new trend in the judicial system? Not likely. Ludlow said she only considered the unorthodox sentencing because the punishment was so minor. In more serious cases, the method would certainly leave criminals in the position to flee if they didn't like the news coming from the other end of the line.