His right arm bent into the shape of a spout, his left placed on his hip to form a handle, the witness stood defiantly to sing the judge "I'm a little teapot".
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No steam rose from Justice Geoffrey Bellew. But the murder trial had taken an unusual turn.
Sitting in the NSW Supreme Court dock on Tuesday was Ron Medich, the wealthy property developer who has pleaded not guilty to ordering the 2009 shooting murder of his former business partner Michael McGurk.
The key witnesses in the trial, Lucky Gattellari, arranged the murder and has received a shorter sentence in exchange for his testimony against Mr Medich.
But Gattellari has recently been charged with fraud, accused of trying to fleece Mr Medich of millions of dollars in an extortion plot involving his evidence at the murder trial.
Which is where the witness acting like a teapot comes in.
Shayne Hatfield, a cocaine importer, had been a cell mate of Gattellari at Long Bay Jail in 2013 and has also been charged with conspiracy to defraud Mr Medich.
The court had heard from Gattellari the plan was to lure Mr Medich into paying $30 million for his silence at trial, then renege on the deal and testify anyway.
It was Hatfield, he said, who tried to conscript former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara to contact Mr Medich about the proposed deal.
Before beginning his evidence, Hatfield was given an instruction by the judge, to which he responded with song. In his shorts and green prison smock, he began "I'm a little tea pot short and stout", and concluded "tip me over, pour me out".
The jury were sent out. On their return, Hatfield was asked by Mr Medich's barrister Winston Terracini, SC, about the alleged extortion plot.
A short time later, after Justice Bellew instructed Hatfield to answer questions directly, yes or no, Hatfield began answering every question with the words "yes or no".
Mr Terracini persevered through the disjunctions to press for more details. But eventually he asked to make an application to the judge in the absence of the jury, who were sent home.
Earlier in the day, the trial heard from the mother of Hatfield's daughter, Linda Monfrooy, who has also been charged with conspiracy to defraud Mr Medich.
Ms Monfrooy described visiting her former partner in jail and delivering messages on his behalf to the former detectives Rogerson and McNamara.
Ms Monfrooy said she knew of Rogerson's reputation, claiming "I was terrified". But she denied she knew anything about a plot to extort millions of dollars or expected to receive any money herself.
She also told the court she honestly believed Hatfield at one point had been operating with the authority of the police. "Please forgive me, I'm a bit dumb," she said.
Her lifts to the jail from McNamara ended when he was arrested over a separate murder. Her contact with Rogerson broke off after he, too, was arrested, Ms Monfrooy said.
The trial continues.
