Man who tried to escape dock at trial handed six months

After being found guilty of assault to severe injury and told that he would be remanded in custody last December, Kenneth Nicoll, 26, jumped out the dock before being caught by a police officer.

He was given an 18-month sentence for the assault.

As Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC revoked Mr Nicoll’s bail he attempted to leave the dock before being told by an officer proceedings were not yet over.

He swore at the sheriff before trying to make his escape.

But the officer got Mr Nicoll in a head lock and tackled him to the ground.

Kevin Hampton, defending, said it was a “moment of madness” and was “doomed to failure”.

He added: “The offence for which he was before the jury was some two years prior and he had been on bail throughout.

“Though he has some past experience of custody, when he was told he was being remanded he lost it.

“He has never done anything like this before. It was an aberration. It was a brief and ill-fated attempt.”

Mr Nicoll, an inmate at HMP Perth, admitted attempting to escape from custody last November.

Sheriff Alastair Brown said: “When you jump the dock and try and run away then court staff have to catch you.

“While I am sure that, like me, Sheriff Drummond, before whom you were appearing, does not care a jot about being shown great deference in the court room, when you do this, justice is disrupted and the court cannot work.

“That we do care about greatly.”