A KURDISH man who was found guilty after a trial of violent disorder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm will have to wait to be sentenced after a prison mix-up.

Ako Mustafa was said to be unaware that he had been visited by a probation officer at Holme House jail who wished to prepare a report on him and failed to come out of his cell.

His barrister Andrew Finlay suggested Mustafa, who required an interpreter at Teesside Crown Court, may have misunderstood what he had been told by prison staff when they attempted to alert him to the visit.

Mr Finlay applied for the case to be adjourned in order that a report could be prepared as his client did not wish to be sentenced without it.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton said: “Sometimes there is a problem with communication and I am prepared to give him a final chance [of a report].”

Mustafa, 34, of Hartington Road, Stockton, will stay in custody until July 7 when he is due to be sentenced.