The saying that art imitates life appears to be true in a firearms possession case heard by a British court on Thursday. It turned out that two main characters in the trial - the accused and the judge had names as the characters in the famous cartoon The Simpsons.

And in the case of the accused, 56-year-old Barton Simpson he appears to be as naughty as his younger namesake.

He was charged before the Warwick Crown Court of bringing a firearm to the Birmingham Airport in May 2012. Mr Simpson, who is from Eccleshall, England, filed a not guilty plea before Judge Recorder Burns.

In the hit cartoon which started to air in the 1990s, the boss of Bart's father, Homer Simpson, is a billionaire named Montgomery Burns who owns the nuclear power plant.

The similarity of the names of the two with the cartoon characters was not lost on a court employee who noted, "It's a bizarre coincidence that Bart Simpson is actually on trial in front of Mr Burns, but it'll proceed as any other criminal case would."

The 20-year cartoon continues to be popular because it appeals not only to kids but also to adults since it often portrays real-life situations and characters such as the U.S. election

the British royal family

and the deceased King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

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