Thug who threatened witnesses with throat slit is jailed

in April 2019 when a prosecutor failed in a bid to stop Roach from shaving off his beard.

Procurator fiscal depute Frank Clarke was trying to get Roach to promise he would leave his long dark beard intact as he awaited trial for allegedly arming himself with a knife and behaving in a threatening way by brandishing weapons.

Defence solicitor Kirsty McGeehan had asked for that trial to be adjourned for an identification parade to take place.

She pointed out that a witness had mentioned the suspect’s “large beard” - but had never been asked to pick out the man in question.

And she said that Roach’s right to a fair trial could be prejudiced if the witness was asked to identify him in court as he has a beard.

Mr Clarke, prosecuting, said: “I wonder if Mr Roach would give an undertaking that he will remain bearded.

“In the interests of justice, the Crown is not opposed to the motion to adjourn and will assist in setting up some form of VIPAR [ Video Identification Parade].”

But Mrs McGeehan said it would be unfair to dictate whether or not Roach could shave, and Sheriff Craig Harris said: “I’m not sure I can really get involved in that - I think we’ll just need to leave things as they are.”