Sam Walker's shameless social media posts from prison vlogs to courtroom TikToks

Liverpool gangster Sam Walker landed himself in hot water with an Irish judge this week after being caught live streaming on TikTok from the courtroom.

Walker has dozens of convictions for over 130 offences and has spent a vast majority of his adult life in prison for a catalogue of crimes including violence, firearms and drug supply. He has also been involved in a number of notorious spats with the likes of former gangster Stephen French and football star Ross Barkley.

Earlier this week, a judge slammed Walker's behaviour on social media, telling him "this is not a public bar, this is a court of law". Walker, who has more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, had been in Dublin District Court on Thursday, September 26, where he pleaded guilty to four separate driving offences.

But during the hearing, he started broadcasting live to his followers, with around 2,500 people joining the stream before garda [Irish police] stepped in to intervene. Walker claimed this was a “genuine mistake” and he didn't know he was still live when he entered the court.

Judge Gerard Jones rejected this claim and said "it wasn't accidental, it was deliberate" as he sentenced him for contempt of court. Walker stuck his middle finger up as he walked free from court after being handed a suspended sentence. When approached by the Irish Mirror/Star outside court, Walker said: “I’m not leaving Ireland anytime soon. The Irish people in Dublin have treated me with nothing but respect so I want to do something for the local community before I leave which is food banks.”

It's not the first time Walker's online conduct has landed him in trouble - he previously become known for his presence on social media while in jail, including using a phone he claimed cost him £3,000 to share a video from behind bars at maximum security facility HMP Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire. The convicted criminal managed to have a video posted to his YouTube channel in a bid to show people "what prison is really like".

At the beginning of the illegal footage, he told his 2,300 subscribers where he was before explaining what kind of prisoners are held there.

He said: "Welcome to Whitemoor, the maximum security facility which is full or terrorists, murderers and the most high security prisoners in the country."

Walker then showed his prisoner ID card to seemingly prove where he was being kept after being found guilty of theft earlier that year.

Walker has managed to post videos on YouTube from several institutions, going all the way back to 2018. In 2020 Walker had his jail term increased after arranging for prison officers' cars to be torched while he was behind bars.

He caused trouble at HMP Manchester, also known as Strangeways, then threatened officers at HMP Durham soon after he was transferred. Walker was jailed at Durham Crown Court for another 18 months after he admitted six offences, including conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

In more recent years, Walker has attempted to rebrand his social media as a place to plaster his charitable works, rather than his criminal behaviour.

On Thursday, September 26, Walker’s solicitor Brian Keenan called on Judge Jones to allow the case to go ahead, despite Detective Paul Cummins telling the judge he was still waiting for a report about Walker’s convictions in other jurisdictions, because a sentence was unlikely. He said his client was living in Sierra Leone where "he was engaged in charity work and was due to travel back to the African nation."

READ MORE: What Sam Walker said outside court after being caught live on TikTok

READ MORE: Foreign Office issues Sam Walker update after 'arrest' in Sierra Leone

Walker went on to tell Judge Jones: "I've been to Sierra Leone for the last six months, west Africa. I've installed water for 25,000 in the villages. I documented all this online.”

Earlier this year, it was claimed Walker was arrested in Sierra Leone having reportedly travelled to the West African country in March, claiming to have absconded from the UK after being bailed following another arrest.

His elaborate-sounding journey to Africa allegedly included chartering a private plane and using a speed boat to cross the Mediterranean in order to avoid border checks after having his passport seized.

Walker claims to have gone to Sierra Leone to help children living in poverty. In a post on his TikTok and Instagram account earlier this year, he said: "I'm going to the slums to get these kids their operations so they can see their families again."

But his friend Samuel contacted the ECHO in July to alert the public to Walker's alleged arrest. Samuel said: "He's out in Sierra Leone and was doing a peaceful protest in the street. Then the police arrested him and put him in jail. That was four days ago. I'm really worried about him."

In a video, Walker can be heard saying: "I will happily do prison. I don't give a s**t. You can put me in the most violent, filthy, unpredictable jail in the continent of Africa and I promise you I will come out with my head held high."

When asked about whether the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office had been informed of the alleged arrest, a spokesperson told the ECHO: “We supported a British man in Sierra Leone and were in contact with the local authorities."

Walker also notably hit the headlines back in 2019, after his insistence that a mobile phone hidden 'up his bottom' was actually between his legs.

During another sentencing over a device found in his cell at HMP Liverpool on September 18, 2018, the ex-drug dealer's defence David Woods said it was "important to Mr Walker" to state where he hid the phone.

Mr Woods said: "He says it was secreted at the top of his legs and wasn't secreted within his body. It's important perhaps that he makes that point clear."

Walker admitted possessing the phone and said the device - shared with other inmates - wasn't used for crime but to contact people because he wasn't allowed access to social media. Liverpool Crown Court previously heard prison guards saw Walker "fiddle round his buttocks as if concealing something".

Lionel Cope, prosecuting, said officers carried out a full body search, adding: "During this, he would only partially squat as if he had something secreted up his bottom. He was then asked to do a full squat and the mobile phone fell from his buttocks."

This week's court appearance in Dublin was just the latest in Walker's long history with the criminal justice system. Judge Jones imposed a one-month jail sentence for the contempt of court arising from Walker's TikTok live stream but suspended it on condition Walker does not re-offend in the next two years.

He also imposed fines totalling €500 and slapped Walker with a two-year driving ban for the charges he originally appeared in court for.