A teenager found himself thrown in the cells after repeatedly removing his mask in a Fife court.
An enraged sheriff ordered that James Canning be taken below after he ignored repeated orders to keep his mask on.
Current restrictions require all those attending at court to wear a mask unless addressing a sheriff.
Canning was attending Dunfermline Sheriff Court in relation to multiple offences dating back to December, 2018.
Sheriff Alastair Brown witnessed him grinning and giving the thumbs up to others in the dock.
He ordered that the 18-year-old be detained while he considered whether to hold him in contempt of court.
Lung condition
Solicitor Stephen Morrison told the court that Canning suffered a respiratory problem in his youth, which had developed.
He said: “A lung condition he had in his youth – he can’t remember the name – is now asthma.
“He has a problem with breathing.
“He held his mask down to get some extra air into his lungs.
“He sometimes forgot it was down.
“Other times he put it back up, in his words, ‘before the judge noticed’.”
He added Canning was “quite alarmed” by the prospect of being put in the cells.
Mandatory masks
However Sheriff Brown rejected that argument, stating: “I saw him making thumbs up and smiling at others.
“That suggests the problem is not with his breathing but with his thinking.
“It’s mandatory in this court building that those who are not required to speak should wear masks and wear them properly, covering their nose and mouth.
“I told him at least once, in fact I think I told him twice, to put his mask up.
“He did not explain to staff when he came in he had a problem.”
Sheriff Brown decided against holding Canning in contempt, but ordered that he be remanded in custody for the preparation of reports in relation to his other cases.
Multiple charges
Canning, of Lion Bank, Kirkintilloch, faces charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner in Kirkcaldy, including at the town’s hospital, on April 9.
Ten days later, prosecutors say he smashed bottles and a window on Henryson Road, Dunfermline.
On December 17, 2019 he is accused of making racist remarks to a woman in Ballingry and on February 1 that year, acting in a threatening and abusive manner by struggling with relatives.
The teenager, then-16, is also said to have assaulted a woman in Kirkland Gardens, Ballingry, kicked wing mirrors from two cars and smashed a window.
