A Perth man carried out an assault under the noses of legal officials, a court has heard.
At Perth Sheriff Court Derek Batchelor admitted punching Michael Cooper as he waited in a witness room in the building.
Mr Cooper had been accompanying two witnesses in a trial against Batchelor, both of whom Batchelor was forbidden to contact as part of his bail conditions.
Depute fiscal Stuart Richardson told the court that Batchelor had entered the room on the second floor of the building.
The 43-year-old, of Newhouse Road, Perth, had assaulted Mr Cooper, who sustained an eye injury.
As a result the two witnesses felt unable to give evidence that day and Batchelor’s trial was adjourned.
At an earlier hearing Batchelor admitted assaulting Mr Cooper by punching him and to breaching his bail conditions in the incident on November 15 last year.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said Mr Cooper himself had not been a witness in the trial but was merely accompanying two people who were.
Jailing Batchelor for five months, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis ruled that all those attending court should have an expectation of protection.
