A judge apologised to jurors for sweltering conditions in his courtroom.

Judge Michael Gledhill QC said that a thermometer in courtroom four at Oxford Crown Court showed it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or 26 degrees Celsius, on Wednesday afternoon - making it hotter than Australian city paradise Sydney.

“I’m very sorry about it,” he said.

“The court staff and myself are doing our best to get somebody to turn it down.”

That was not proving as easy as the jury might think, he added.

The judge joked: “I usually say it is the fault of the barristers because they are the cause of the hot air.”

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