Costa customer who refused to download app has trial hijacked by 'attorney's' wild rant

dailystar.co.uk:

court case that exploded into chaos after a self-styled “private attorney general at law” tried to hijack the proceedings has finally come to a conclusion.The man, who refused to give his name and identified himself as “Nicholas, son of Alex”, made bizarre claims about his legal status when he attempted to represent defendant Leslie Thomas at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court last October.

He then stormed out to join a group of supporters, who said they were from a Hampshire freeman of the land collective.The case was based on a disagreement about Costa Coffee’s loyalty reward scheme.The scheme collects points for each purchase, allowing the user to get a free drink after a certain threshold is reached.

You'd need 330 points to get a free medium latte, for example.But Thomas, 64, from Gosport in Hampshire, refused to install the coffee chain’s app on his phone in order to collect loyalty points and things got a bit heated.

He was arrested after using “abusive language” with Costa staff and was charged by police with a public order offence.But when the case was brought to court in October last year, reports the Portsmouth News, a bearded man calling himself “Nicholas, son of Alex” tried to address the court on behalf of Thomas.He demanded to know whether his “inalienable rights” would be guaranteed by the court.While stunned magistrate Gillian Park tried to work out how to reply, the man snapped at her.Then, when asked he was a barrister or solicitor, “Nicholas” responded: “I’m neither.