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A transgender pensioner who stalked two women turned up at court today for a second day running with his pet black cat .

He was given rare permission to have the pet in the dock with him.

Aidan Wiltshire, 73, walked through the foyer at Chelmsford Crown Court with the cat draped over his shoulder. He sat in the dock with the cat on his lap as a jury ruled that he had stalked the two women.

Normally an accused has to stand to hear the jury’s verdict but Wiltshire had been given permission to remain sitting with his cat.

(Image: John McLellan)

Yesterday, Judge David Turner QC ruled that Wiltshire could take the female cat, called Taylor, into court to help calm his nerves during his trial.

And as the jury arrived in court the judge warned them : “You might see the head of his cat pop up. He has been allowed to have it in the dock with him.”

He told them that Wiltshire - who suffers from mental health problems - was “helped” by having the cat with him.

Wiltshire was living as a woman and calling himself Anne at the time he stalked two women. He was referred to by the judge as “transgendered.”

The court has been told that the two women, solicitor Alison Gowman and church minister Carol Irwin, were sent numerous letters and received phone calls from Wiltshire. He was said to have been in breach of a restraining order as far as one of them was concerned.

(Image: John McLellan)

Ms Gowman told the court she felt 'overwhelmed' by Wiltshire’s calls and letters.

“I felt besieged by her. She was (metaphorically) everywhere I went - on the end of the phone, in voicemails. I felt very vulnerable, she was unpredictable.”

Carol Irwin told the court she had been warned about Wiltshire’s intensity by other clergy. She said that over 18-24 months she got three or four letters a week from him. The last was in July 2014.

Her mobile phone 'became toxic', she said. Wiltshire’s behaviour was 'intolerable and persistent' and that she felt 'hounded' and was apprehensive about attending church.

(Image: John McLellan)

Today the jury of eight men and four women took 45 minutes to decide that Wiltshire, who had not entered a plea, had “done the acts as charged.”

The judge adjourned sentencing until 12 April for psychiatric reports and freed Wiltshire, of Chelmsford, on bail. As he remanded Wiltshire the judge warned him that he must attend the April hearing but made no reference to whether he can bring the cat with him.