A man accused of killing the historian Adrian Greenwood was taken to the wrong court by prison transport contractor GeoAmey, delaying the hearing by five hours.
Michael Danaher, 50, was due to appear at Banbury magistrates court in Oxfordshire on Wednesday morning charged with murdering Greenwood, 42, who was found stabbed to death in the hallway of his Oxford home.
Court officials told magistrates the defendant had been driven in error to High Wycombe magistrates court nearly 50 miles away in another county.
There was a further delay in getting a van to Buckinghamshire to then bring Danaher to the correct court, which is about an hour away.
Prosecutor Clare Barclay said Greenwood, an Oxford-educated academic who also dealt in antiques and collected Harry Potter books, suffered multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest together with other injuries at his home in Oxford on 6 April. His body was discovered the following day, she said.
When Danahar, from Peterborough, did appear in court, he was wearing a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name, age and address before being remanded in custody to appear at Oxford crown court on Friday for a preliminary hearing.
Danaher was arrested on Sunday and charged with murder on Tuesday, Thames Valley police said.
A 26-year-old man, who was arrested on suspicion of murder on the day Greenwood’s body was found, was released without charge on Saturday.
