The Retroville shopping mall in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.
A Fife man accused of having a homophobic rant against police failed to attend court because he is “fighting Russian aggression in Ukraine”.
A warrant was issued for Kyle Linden who had been due to face allegations of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at an intermediate hearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Thursday.
The 33-year-old wrote to the procurator fiscal’s office to say he was busy fighting on the Ukrainian front line.
Linden, of Caledonia Court in Rosyth, is due to stand trial on July 21 over allegations that he acted in a manner “likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm.”
Allegation of threats
It is alleged that at Dunfermline’s Kirkgate on October 9 last year, Linden shouted, swore, adopted an aggressive demeanour, obstructed the path of a police vehicle and uttered threats and homophobic remarks towards officers.
At a previous hearing, Linden denied the offence.
Fiscal depute Zahra Bhatti told the court that she had received a letter from the accused explaining that he would not be in attendance due to being in war-torn Ukraine “fighting Russian oppression.”
