A defendant's poor personal hygiene brought court proceedings to a halt yesterday as the judge led lawyers and officials down to the cells under Perth Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Michael Fletcher decided that it was in the public interest to move because Neil Turner - who admitted breaching a bail order banning him from approaching his estranged girlfriend - was deemed too unclean to appear in open court. Turner, 59, who pleaded guilty through the cell-door hatch, was remanded in custody for the preparation of social background and community service reports.

A court source said: “The decision was taken to move the mountain to Muhammad, as it were, because of the state of Turner. There was a distinctly unfresh odour emanating from his cell and it was decided it would not be hygienic to bring him up to court.

“If he had been taken into court the whole place would have had to have been fumigated. There were health issues for the other folk waiting for their cases in court.” It was the second time in two months that the defendant had been kept from the dock for the same reason.

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