A DRUNKEN man arrested after causing problems for stall holders setting up at Accrington outdoor market at 7.30am failed to turn up at court to answer a charge of being drunk and disorderly because he had gone to Pakistan because of a family bereavement.

Blackburn magistrates heard the next time Tamriz Nawaz was arrested he was at Manchester airport and he spent his first night back in the UK in a police cell.

Nawaz, 26, of Buxton Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly. He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £100 costs.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said stallholders called police because Nawaz was making a nuisance of himself as they were trying to set up. He was abusive to officers and when they asked his name he said he was ‘Bin Laden’.

Paul Huxley, defending, said his client had been on what he described as a ‘very good’ night out and on his way home he stopped at the market hoping to buy some fruit.

“His language wasn't the best and the market traders had better things to do than listen to his mouth running away with him," said Mr Huxley.