A teenager was today locked up at Worcester Crown Court for contempt.

Thomas Edwards, 17, of Aylestone Hill, near Hereford, wolf-whistled a 15-year-old girl from the public gallery as she was appealing against a sentence imposed by magistrates.

Judge Alistair McCreath ordered Edwards to come before him and sent him to cells below the court for 45 minutes.

He was then brought back up into the dock and given a dressing-down for his bad behaviour.

The judge told him: "I'm going to let you go because you had the grace to own up and apologise for what you did.

"You should realise that I have powers in this court and will not put up with people who behave as you did."

The judge warned Edwards that if he ever repeated his actions he would be sentenced to a period of detention in a young offenders' institution.