A trial was postponed after a court was told the accused works in the chicken factory at the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak and is self-isolating.
Perth Sheriff Court was told Owen Nairn was caught up in the cluster of cases centred on the 2 Sisters operation in Coupar Angus.
More than 68 people linked to the food processing plant have tested positive and all 900 staff have been ordered to self-isolate until the end of the month.
The court was told Nairn, 21, had started self-isolating at the weekend and will continue to do so under government guidelines until August 31.
He is due to go on trial on September 1 but the Crown and his solicitor made a joint motion to have the case postponed because of the Covid-19 situation.
The court was told the situation was exacerbated because Nairn’s mother Lynette Stewart, who he is accused of assaulting, is also self-isolating because she had been in recent contact with him.
Nairn, of Tulloch Terrace, Perth, denies assaulting his sister Sophie Nairn by trying to punch her and trying to throw a baby gate at her on February 19.
He denies attacking his mother by pushing her on the body and trying to throw a baby gate at her. He denies acting aggressively towards her, overturning a table, kicking a baby gate, uttering threats of violence and demanding entry to the house.
A fourth charge of wilfully or recklessly destroying property by smashing cups and a window and tearing a baby gate from a wall is also denied by the accused.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said: “I had a call from his mother to say he had been working in the chicken factory.
“To err on the side of caution, given what’s been happening in Coupar Angus, we have agreed it would be a good decision to adjourn the trial.”
Fiscal depute Matthew Kerr said: “I got in touch with his mother, who is a complainer, and spoke with her to find out what had happened.
“She advised that she was in contact with the accused last weekend and that she was now self-isolating.
“The trial is just outside the 14-day period but in the particular circumstances it makes sense to bring this to court today to adjourn the trial.”
Sheriff Gillian Wade agreed to the motion and set a new trial date for November.
