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A father-of-three was escorted from court after refusing to stand for magistrates.

Julian Emms, who calls himself 'Julian of the family Emms', was flanked by security guards as he left court.

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

Mr Emms, from Ebbw Vale, is a self-professed "freeman on the land", which means he believes laws do not apply to him.

He 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."

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 told Gloucestershire Live .

"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.

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Mr Emms, 52, 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, but the trip didn't happen.

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 at Cardiff Crown Court.

Judge Robert Britton told Emms at the time: "This was a most despicable crime."

Last week, Mr Emms said he had been watching proceedings from the public gallery of Cheltenham Magistrates Court, "in the interests of seeing if justice is free".

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.