[420 Girl]

A prosecution over cannabis worth about £4, enough for one joint, is believed to have cost thousands of pounds after it took almost three years and 17 days in court to settle.

Andrew Latto was caught on October 2, 2005, as he left Perth Prison after visiting a friend. He said he had planned to pass him the Class C drug but thought better of it. On April 6, 2006, Latto, from Methil in Fife, admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis in the prison. The case was adjourned for four weeks before being deferred for a medical report.

Latto turned up, as ordered, on June 28 and again on August 9, but on both occasions the case was delayed to await the medical report. By August 30, the medical report had turned up, but it was deemed to have arrived so long after the original guilty plea that a supplementary social work report was ordered. On September 27 the case was deferred for a psychiatric report, and delays occurred in November, December and the following January when the social work report that had been ordered was unavailable.

On April 2, 2007, Latto was ordered to appear. But his solicitor said he had become agoraphobic and was scared to come to court. He was given three hours to turn up, but when he failed to appear was given a further four weeks.

After another non-attendance on April 30, a warrant was issued for his arrest. But it was not until March 7, 2008 - nearly two years after he admitted the offence and 18 months after his last court appearance - that Latto re-entered the dock.

The sheriff, who congratulated Latto for making the “difficult” journey to court, then postponed the case to obtain up-to-date community service, social background and psychiatric reports. More time was lost on April 28 this year, when the sheriff delayed a decision on sentencing to obtain another supplementary social work report and a doctor's report.

A senior court source said: “This must now be the most expensive spliff in the history of Scottish justice. I know justice can grind slowly but this is an extreme case. For this still to be going on nearly three years later, and with an early guilty plea in place, is beyond belief.”

Latto was placed on probation for 12 months yesterday.

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