A woman suspected of being high on drugs was led screaming to the cells complaining about being jailed.
But because of her condition, Kimberley Moscrop didn’t realise she hadn’t even been sentenced.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond remanded the 22-year-old in custody and said her condition and behaviour should act as a warning to youngsters.
Moscrop, of Hillend Drive, Hawick, was incoherent when she was brought from custody into Selkirk Sheriff Court on Monday.
She insisted her lawyer had not put forward her case and complained that her jail sentence was too harsh – despite a sentence not having been passed.
She was told by police officers to be quiet, but refused.
Moscrop was in court because she failed to turn up for a hearing at Jedburgh on July 25 to face charges of stealing goods worth £500 from Morrisons supermarket in Hawick on November 10.
After she had been escorted to the cells below the court, shouting and complaining, Sheriff Drummond commented: “I wish some of the kids could see that.
“She is 22 and drugs have destroyed her life. She has been coming in here since she was 15 and first it was alcohol and now it is drugs.”
He added: “It is a warning to what can happen to people with that lifestyle.”
Moscrop is due in court at Jedburgh on August 23.