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It is in the news that someone was barred from attending their own court attendance, and had an arrest warrant issued for failure to attend, because a security guard determined they were drunk:

Andrew Robinson, who has more than 670 offences on his rap sheet, was due before Oxford Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday to answer an allegation he breached an earlier court order.

When he didn’t turn up to the hearing, the magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest.

Appearing in the dock on Saturday morning, Robinson, 52, of no fixed address, said he had come to court. “Security wouldn’t let me in. They said I was drunk.”

What laws govern such a restriction on attending ones court appearances? Can one be forced to miss ones court appearances, potentially leading to a default judgement, on the opinion of a security guard? Is there general restrictions on attending court under the influence of alcohol? Does it make a difference if "under the influence of alcohol" is one's default state, as it very well may be for a homeless alcoholic? If so, is there a blood alcohol limit, or is it behavior based?

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What laws govern such a restriction on attending ones court appearances?

The relevant parts of Section 53 of the Courts Act 2003 say:

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(2) A court security officer acting in the execution of his duty may—

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  • (b) exclude or remove any person from a court building, or a part of a court building,

if it is reasonably necessary to do so for one of the purposes given in subsection (3).

(3) The purposes are—

  • (a) enabling court business to be carried on without interference or delay;

  • (b) maintaining order;

  • (c) securing the safety of any person in the court building.

(4) A court security officer acting in the execution of his duty may remove any person from a courtroom at the request of a judge or a justice of the peace.

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Despite the cited news article lacking detail on the precise circumstances and Mr Robinson's behaviour, any of these conditions could be seen as reasonable when dealing with someone apparently drunk during court hours.

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