In a court ruling that sounds something more like the sort of thing you see in a Hollywood movie. A man from the Bishop’s Stortford area has been sentenced to spend six months in Spain by Judge John Plumstead, a Crown Court judge in St Albans.

The 23-year-old, Sean Powell was convicted of slashing himself with a knife in front of his ex-girlfriend and her new partner, in a local pub. Since the incident Mr Powell has hooked up with a new girlfriend and moved to Spain.

The judge decided that he would send him to jail for three months, which he suspended for a period of six months, he also invoked a 24 month restraining order, stopping him approaching his former girlfriend.

Trending Stories  11 year-old child dies in Gran Canaria from swine flu

Then in a surprise amendment, he ordered Powell to leave the country and go to Spain, and not return for a minimum of 180 days. He said that he believed this was the best for both his ex-girlfriend, and for him, to get away, and restart his life.

The six-month sentence forcing him to stay in Spain is apparently legally binding, in what is believed to be the first such decision in British legal history.