A Haddington man who admitted making offensive remarks towards a man has had his sentence deferred for a second time after he failed to show up for social work reports.

Lee Ness was due to attend at his local social work department to have the required report prepared but skipped the appointment to attend his grandfather’s birthday party, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told last week.

Defending lawyer David Allan said his client’s decision was “unsatisfactory” and asked Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC for him to have another chance to have the report completed.

The solicitor said Ness, of the town’s High Street, was currently carrying out unpaid work in the community after being sentenced on an unrelated matter and still had around 100 hours to complete.

Mr Allan also told the court the 20-year-old offender had an outstanding summary matter that is due to go to trial in June this year.

Sheriff Campbell KC agreed to defer sentence again for the report to be prepared and for the outstanding matter to come to a conclusion.

Ness will return to the dock for sentencing on July 11.

He had previously pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and uttering offensive remarks towards Altaf Khan at Well Wynd, Tranent, on January 16 this year.