THE Crown has dropped a second case against a stalker after his first trial became the most expensive in a court's 200-year history.

Jeronimo Bouceiro was due to go on trial again yesterday for stalking the same female police officer.

But prosecutors dropped the case without explanation and confirmed that they no longer intended to pursue proceedings against him.

Bouceiro had been accused of entering a witness room during his first trial and staring at his victim, 36-year-old Police Scotland constable Gillian Farnington, while she was waiting to give evidence against him.

The Portuguese national's first trial lasted more than a year and cost the taxpayer in excess of £50,000 before he was finally found guilty.