A sheriff was left embarrassed after his phone went off in court yesterday.
Sheriff Murdo Mactaggart's phone belted out Gimme Shelter while he sentenced a man who claimed to be the Devil and live in Hell.
The law chief scrambled to stifle the Rolling Stones classic, which is regarded as one of the best songs ever.
The song touches on war, murder, rape and fear.
And the track rang out in court one at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court yesterday while Mactaggart was sentencing a man who referred to himself as Lucifer.
Lawyers, criminals and court staff were left shocked when it started loudly playing, before Mactaggart grabbed the handset and turned it off while making his apologies.
Mactaggart was sentencing John Paul Cunningham, of Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, over a racist and homophobic offences and bombarding 999 operators with bogus calls.
The court heard that the emergency services had to attend his home on a number of occasions to carry out "welfare checks" as he said he was going to self harm.
But the sheriff was told he had also made "a number of prank calls" to 999, including one where he said his name was Lucifer and claimed he lived in hell.
He also referred to himself as Jim Morrison and claimed to be American, while saying all his previous calls had been hoaxes.
Defence solicitor Neil McPherson said the 46-year-old had struggled with mental health problems and alcohol addiction and had racked up a number of convictions after becoming a first offender at the age of 31.
Mactaggart placed Cunningham on a Community Payback Order for the racist and homophobic offences.
The Order will see him supervised by social workers for 18 months and attending alcohol treatment.
Cunningham, who appeared from custody, will be sentenced for the prank calls later in the year.
Gimme Shelter - the opening track on the Stones' 1969 album Let it Bleed - was ranked at number 13 on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.
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