Two men accused of assaulting and abducting sheriff in Aberdeenshire car park appear in court
William Curtis and Philip Mitchell appeared at Glasgow's High Court today
Two men accused of assaulting and abducting a sheriff at a car park in Aberdeenshire have appeared in court.
William Curtis and Philip Mitchell, both in their 60's, are accused of attacking Robert McDonald in Banff in June 2021.
It is alleged they seized him before pulling him to the ground, sitting on top of him and detaining him there against his will.
Curtis, 69, is also accused of sending threatening messages to politicians including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
He faces charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner which was "likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm."
He is further accused of allegedly sending or causing a message to be sent through social media to Stewart Stevenson MSP which threatened him and contained a link to a video relating to the murder of the MP Jo Cox.
He also faces two other charges of posting messages of a "threatening and abusive nature" on social media in October 2020 and June 2021.
All the alleged offences happened in Aberdeenshire.
Curtis has pleaded not guilty to the charges while Mitchell has not yet entered a plea.
Lord Weir asked whether they had given any further thought to having legal representation.
Curtis replied: "As far as legal representation is concerned, no."
Mitchell also said he did not want to be represented.
Advocate Depute Lisa Gillespie QC said the Crown may make an application at the next hearing to have solicitors appointed for the two men.
She told the court:
"It's likely that at the next calling of the case the Crown will submit to the court that the accused should be prohibited from conducting their defence personally.
"As your Lord knows, the Criminal Procedures Scotland Act gives the court power to prohibit the personal conduct of defence in various categories of case involving vulnerable witnesses.
"In the circumstances of this case, the Crown is concerned that there is the potential for vulnerable witnesses to be subjected to prolonged cross-examination."
Lord Weir advised Curtis and Mitchell to reconsider whether they want legal representation before the case calls for the next hearing on August 24.
A trial was fixed for next year at a previous hearing.