Rock star Bryan Ferry's son Otis heard today that 'witness nobbling' charges against him could be dramatically dropped.

In a sensational development at Gloucester crown court the prosecution announced it plans to discontinue allegations that 26-year-old Ferry perverted the course of justice by trying to stop a witness giving evidence against him in a robbery and assault trial.

The announcement by prosecutor Stephen Dent took defence lawyers and Judge Martin Picton by surprise.

The judge described the situation as 'nonsensical' and 'farcical.'

He said he was concerned and 'taken aback' to hear the prosecution's position as they had persuaded him at earlier hearings to remand Ferry in custody for more than four months on the perverting the course of justice allegation.

Judge Picton called for the lawyer in charge of the case, Kerry Barker, who was not in court today, to appear before him at a future hearing to give a full explanation of what has been going on.

Ferry, joint master of the South Shropshire Hunt, appeared in the dock today alongside John Deutsch, 55, of Chipping Campden.

Ferry, of Eaton Mascott, Shropshire, and Deutsch, are jointly charged with robbing hunt monitor Helen Ghalmi of a camera and assulting her during a meeting of the Heythrop Hunt near Stow on the Wold in November 2007. They also face alternative charges of affray.

Ferry alone is accused of perverting the course of justice by telling his former groom David Hodgkiss not to give evidence against him when he was due to stand trial on the robbery and assault charges at the crown court in Cirencester last September.

That trial was aborted when the 'witness nobbling' allegations were made and Ferry subsequently spent four months in custody before being bailed in January to await trial.

For the full story see tomorrow's Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo.