Man in rude T-shirt ordered out of court

A young man was given a dressing down when he appeared in the dock at Inverness Sheriff Court wearing a rude T-shirt. Stephen Coffey (20) was wearing jeans and a white shirt with a caricature of an old man emblazoned on the front when he appeared before Sheriff Andrew Berry.

The T-shirt had the message: "Why I can't wear shorts," printed across the cartoon character of the man in shorts which exposed his private parts. The sheriff rebuked Coffey and told him: "Go home and get properly dressed and be back here in 45 minutes, otherwise you will be in custody."



When the case was recalled later on Tuesday morning, defence solicitor John McColl apologised to the court for Coffey's dress code. "He was inappropriately dressed and apologises to the court. He thought it was simply a T-shirt with a humorous logo and clearly it was not appropriate attire for court purposes." Sheriff Berry told Coffey: "I will accept this apology.

If it happens again, you will find yourself in contempt. This is an extremely serious matter." Coffey of Woodlands Place, Inverness, was charged with taking a car away from an address in Lochalsh Road, Inverness, without the owner's permission on August 15, 2009. Depute procurator fiscal Karen Smith told Sheriff Berry she was deserting the case and Coffey walked free from court.