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A man who stole money raised for his dying son caused a scene yesterday in court.

The dad-of-three, who calls himself 'Julian of the family Emms', was ejected from Cheltenham Magistrates' Court at around 2.45pm yesterday after refusing to stand for the magistrates.

The 52-year-old is a self-professed 'freeman on the land', which means he believes laws do not apply to him.

Mr Emms, from Ebbw Vale in Wales, was jailed for three years in 2012 after embezzling £16,500 from a charity fund to help his son Michael fight motor neurone disease.

He had claimed he would take his son on holiday to the USA in 2010. When the trip didn't happen, he pretended to burn the donors' cheques in front of Michael's grandmother.

After Michael died aged 24 in April 2011, there was not enough money left to pay for a funeral. Mr Emms was found guilty of fraud in 2012 at Cardiff Crown Court.

Banished from court

Mr Emms had been watching proceedings from the public gallery of courtroom one yesterday, "in the interests of seeing if justice is free", he said.

When the magistrates walked in, everyone present stood, as is the custom – apart from Mr Emms.

The court clerk asked that he stand but he told her he would not.

(Image: Wales News Service)

Chairman of the magistrates Karen Czapiewski then ordered he be removed from the building.

Flanked by two security guards, Mr Emms walked out of the court, but then argued with staff for 15 minutes, before leaving because his parking ticket was about to expire.

'I can drive a car with no tax and do whatever I want'

Mr Emms said: "I'd been in the court for a couple of hours when they demanded I stand.

"I do not stand under your laws. I am a public person. I wasn't there as a witness or on trial.

"Obviously in this court system I don't have rights. It's ridiculous."

(Image: Wales News Service)

He added that he has written a letter to Gloucestershire police saying he has opted out of all laws.

"I can drive a car with no tax and do whatever I want," he said. "It's everybody's right."

The court's usher told Mr Emms: "If you don't respect the court you can't stay in the court."

A security guard added: "It is the Queen you are respecting when you stand."

Law Commission guidance says 'refusing to stand where directed' can be considered contempt in the face of the court - but in practice the offence usually covers more serious misconduct.

The court declined to comment.

Who are the 'freemen on the land'?

The freemen on the land are a group that believes laws passed by Parliament can only be enforced upon people who consent.

In the USA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classes freemen as 'sovereign citizen extremists' and domestic terrorists.

The movement started in the USA in the 1970s, but there have been several examples of freemen clashing with authorities in the UK.

Mark Bond, from Norfolk, was arrested in 2010 for refusing to pay tax after claiming he was no longer a UK citizen.

He was handed a suspended three-month jail term.

And Mark McKenzie, from Manchester, described himself as a freeman last May after refusing to pay more than £7,000 of council tax.

But Manchester City Council said his claims were "pseudo-legal mumbo jumbo".

Want to read more of this kind of story? If you want to read more about incidents of, and issues around, crime, we have a dedicated Facebook group for it. We regularly post court reports, ongoing trials, reports of criminal behaviour, and you can contribute to the discussion there too. To join the group, click here and you will shortly be approved to become a member. Alternatively, you can visit our crime and court channels on this website, where these stories appear when published.

The 54-year-old was sentenced to 54 days in prison for non-payments of council tax and fines.