Bitter-Sweet

I have the bitter-sweet duty tomorrow of attending the last sitting of a much liked and respected colleague. She has not reached the retirement age of 70, but she has grandchildren both here and in the Antipodes, for whom she feels a grandmother's unconditional love.. She has reluctantly decided to sell her English house and acquire two smaller ones, one of them south of the Equator, hence her decision to leave the Bench early.

She has been an exemplary colleague, playing a full part in the committees that help to keep the Bench running. At the same time she has retained her grace and sense of humour, treating everyone in the courtroom, be they staff  professionals or defendants, with just the right mixture of courtesy and firmness.

We respect her, and, to be honest, those of us who have worked with her for about twenty years love her a bit as well.

We shall miss her. I hope that she will like the flowers that will be furtively concealed  in the retiring room tomorrow.

The Dog That Didn't Bark In The Night

There has been a total lack of any significant debate on the criminal justice system in the election 'campaigns' so far.In a way I am relieved, since in the heat of a campaign the only ideas likely to emerge would be stupid or vicious or both. Instead the parties are trying to buy our votes with improbable amounts of our own (or our grandchildren's) money. Depressing.

Oaf Fait

A charmless young man came before us charged with assault, having punched the referee in a game of park football. Spectators on the touchline were shocked and someone called the police who duly arrested and charged the assailant.

Our colleagues at the early hearing adjourned the case for the preparation of pre-sentence reports, with a view to a community penalty. Twice he failed to turn up for his interview, then when he finally deigned to attend his behaviour towards the probation officer was so confrontational that she terminated he interview and submitted a so-called 'non-report' to us. His extensive list of previous convictions showed a propensity to violence,  so we took the precaution of putting him in the armoured-glass dock  in case he kicked off again.

We decided that there was no future in the community sentence route, so we sent him to prison for 18 weeks, reduced to 12 weeks as credit for his plea. I hope that he learns a lesson from this episode.

Oops

An election leaflet from my Lib Dem candidate dropped onto the mat yesterday. I had a glance at the candidate's details and was surprised to see that he claims to be a JP. When I was sworn in, we were told of certain basic no-nos, and high up the list was misuse of the JP status, including on any election literature.

I expect the hapless chap will be hearing from the Clerk to the Justices any time soon.

A New One On Me

We had a case of Outraging Public Decency in the other day - not an everyday occurrence in my court. A rather unsavoury looking woman of 22 admitted having full-on sex with a man on public transport, in full view of other passengers at eight in the morning. For some reason the man concerned had been dealt with a couple of weeks ago, so it seemed fair to give her the same sentence.

There is no specific guideline for this so we took a cue from that for Sexual Activity in a Public Lavatory, namely a fine. She had spent two days in custody, so we deemed the fine and surcharge served.

What's Going On At The MA?

The Magistrates' Association has puzzled a few of us in recent weeks.  I have been a member for about 30 years, dutifully coughing up thirty-odd quid each year. In recent years the MA website Members' Section has included a (passworded) forum. It has never attracted many contributors, but I have chipped in occasionally, as have luminaries such as Richard Monkhouse, the MA Chairman. Now, it has simply vanished, without any notice to readers and contributors nor any explanation as to why. My passwords for the Members' Section are now rejected.

This seems a shabby way to treat paid-up members. I cannot see that the Forum did any harm to anyone, after all.

Forum software is cheap and plentiful, so perhaps someone will set up a site where JPs can talk to each other and compare notes without fear of being got at by the tabloids.

On a Personal Note

Saturday's Boat Race (s) and tonight's University Challenge remind me of my 1950s childhood in the school playground. Menacing groups of lads (ignorant to a man of anything to do with universities) would question you whether you supported the dark or the light Blues. The 'wrong' answer would be punished. For whatever reason I supported Oxford.

Many years later my dear daughter got into Cambridge where she met my son-in-law. They married in the College Chapel, so I have to admit that I have changed my alliegance.

It doesn't mean a thing really. but it shows how small things can create loyalties.

How Much Did That Cost?

(From Bystander N)

I recently spent time in a crown court’s public gallery.  I’m used to being on the bench with a judge or recorder, but not elsewhere in the court room.

My first two impressions were not favourable.  Much of the seating used by the advocates was ripped or badly worn and held together with masking tape.  The proceedings started about forty minutes late mainly because the prosecutor needed time to copy a summary for the jurors.  Why, I asked myself, wasn’t this done before the start of the trial?

The offence was sexual assault and definitely at the lower end of the scale.  A hand was alleged to have cupped a buttock, over clothing.  I was there on day two and heard that when the alleged victim gave evidence she said she hadn’t felt anything and hadn’t known an offence had taken place.  A friend who was with her said she had seen it.  I heard the defendant being examined and cross examined.  No doubt the judge, in summing up, would have told the jury that his having no previous made him more believable than otherwise. 

To give just a little of the background the defendant said the incident started when a small group of teenagers on his bus seemed to him to be talking about him and laughing at him.  He told them to behave themselves.  Based on his evidence, the CC TV from which I could not see any offence committed, and what I heard of what the other witnesses had said I felt the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  I came away with a question though.

I knew by lunch on day two that there were three civilian prosecution witnesses, the defendant and the officer in the case who I also heard give evidence.  There were some agreed statements.  The officer’s evidence left questions in my mind over the way they had dealt with it, but I digress.  I worked out that if held in my court the trial should have been set for a day.  I would be surprised if a magistrates’ court had declined jurisdiction and it was more likely that the defendant, or rather his solicitor, had opted for crown court. 

In those august surroundings, three days had been allocated.  What did that cost, whoever ended up paying, compared with what it would have cost in my court?  No wonder the justice system is short of money.

Comments

Comments to this blog are always welcome, and are moderated with a light touch. However I have just had to hold a couple that go into detail of someone's case. Unfortunately the blog is not the place to go over old individual cases. Sorry.