Judge: 'What's a website?'

A judge trying an internet terror case stunned a court by reportedly admitting he didn't know what a website was.

Judge Peter Openshaw brought a halt to the trial as a witness was being quizzed about an extremist web forum.

He told prosecutors at Woolwich Crown Court: "The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a website is."

Later he said he hoped a computer expert would give "simple" evidence when called to the stand.

Judge Openshaw said: "Will you ask him to keep it simple? We've got to start from basics."

But the Judicial Communications Office later released a statement insisting Judge Openshaw was "entirely computer literate".

It said the judge's comments, in the fifth week of a trial largely based on computer generated evidence, had been taken out of context.

He had been simply clarifying the evidence presented, in an easily understandable form, for all those in court.

"Mr Justice Openshaw is entirely computer literate and indeed has taken notes on his own computer in court for many years," the statement said.