THE COURTS would not be held to ransom by a teen’s refusal to get out of his cell, a Swindon judge warned.

Three young men were due to appear before Swindon Crown Court on Monday morning to be sentenced for their part in a double stabbing near Trowbridge Tesco.

But none of the youngsters were produced from their respective prisons. One apparently refused to leave his cell and a prisons service bungle resulted in the other two not being put on the van.

Ethan Bush, 18, pleaded guilty last month to armed robbery with a knife. A co-defendant, a 17-year-old boy, admitted robbery. The third boy, 16, previously pleaded guilty to a wounding charge.

It follows the stabbing of two men in Trowbridge in February. The two victims had arranged to sell the boys drugs in Biss Meadows – with the youngsters planning to rob the men of their product and money.

On Monday, Swindon Crown Court heard that Bush had failed to leave his cell for an appointment with the probation service for a pre-sentence report to be completed.

Judge Jason Taylor QC said: “Mr Bush is absolutely not helping himself. He failed to come out of his cell to speak with the probation service and he’s failed to get on the prison van today.

“He is facing incredibly serious charges and he is absolutely not presenting a good impression to the court.”

He said he was minded to give Bush another chance to speak to the probation service: “It’s in his very best interests to speak with probation. But the court’s not going to be held to ransom.”

Adjourning sentence to February 7, Judge Taylor apologised to the families of the other two defendants.