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Two Scots Lose Bid for Trial by Combat on Robbery Charge

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United Press International

Two Scottish brothers accused of armed robbery wanted the right to trial by combat, but they will have to settle for a clash of words before a judge and a jury instead.

Defense attorney John Dowdall told the High Court on Monday that the option of trial by combat with the royal champion--last recorded in 1603--no longer is available in Scotland.

Suspects John and Paul Burnside had wanted to use the ancient method of settling disputes rather than stand trial in court.

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Trial by combat was introduced to Britain by the invading Normans in the 11th Century. It was officially abolished in England and Wales in 1819 but had fallen into disuse many years before.

Dowdall said the last known case of trial by combat was in 1603 when the royal champion, the Earl of Mowbray, who had been challenged, “took cold feet and disappeared down a rope which he threw from his bedroom in Edinburgh Castle.”

The royal champion is now an honorary title only. In theory the current royal champion in Scotland is Lord Cameron of Lochbroom, a 54-year-old amateur yachtsman, sometime pianist and reluctant combatant.

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