This story put me in mind of a case where I was sitting with a colleague who has an irrepressible sense of humour.
The defendant was driving too fast in an uninsured car that he had no right to drive anyway, and when the inevitable crash occurred he was said to have demolished a length of garden wall along with a front gate. We reached a swift decision, which I announced in my best Pronouncement Voice.
My colleague leant across, and muttered "Did he want any further fences to be taken in consideration?"
I maintained my composure, with difficulty.
It may be old but that doesn't make it any less funny. I applaud your restraint BS!! Cheered up my Friday morning no end!!
ReplyDeleteI find that joke... offensive. ;)
ReplyDeleteWas the driver represented by a defence solicitor?
ReplyDeleteYou should always carefully examine probation reports for do-it-for-a-dare content. I recall a bestiality case (horse) where the probation report noted the defendant's need for a stable relationship.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Probation Officer and recall one of my colleagues supervising a offender who had committed Bestiality with a horse. Innocently they asked if it was a male of female horse.
Delete"I'm not a f*cking p**f" was the reply.
Brilliant!
DeleteRings utterly true!
Terrific....
Deletereally true...
Evidently a legal nightmare.
DeleteOh .....
ReplyDeleteI too am a Probation Officer. Once had an offender who was offered some ketamine (horse tranquilizer and human recreational pharmaceutical). He just said neigh.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting that the site is full of complaints about the former Justice Secretary, yet when Gove takes over and supports what the Judiciary want, there is silence on here.
ReplyDeleteTime for a bit of balance methinks.
When was the judiciary, at any level, consulted about the oppressive and unjust Criminal Courts' Charge?
DeleteI have not spoken to any practising JP or lawyer who does not think this to be a cruel and callous imposition. The other day, we dealt with an Eastern European prostitute, plying her trade, we were told, to send money home to her children. She left the court with an order to pay something like £500, being a modest fine, as per the guidelines, costs, a so-called victim surcharge, and now this CCC. Call that justice? Call that fair? Damned if I do.
Couldn't agree more with Anon. at 15.00. I was wondering when the Bystander team would comment on the Justice Secretary's important speech. Although not fleshed out, it promises to be an encouraging start although no doubt there will be complaints and whining from those with vested interests. Hopefully he will be radical enough to increase lower courts' sentencing powers while restricting further the right to elect for jury trial. But this blog tends to criticise wherever possible.
ReplyDeleteWe are wandering off topic here but I can't resist chipping in, especially as there is no longer a MA members forum!
ReplyDeleteGove will tow the party line. He may well prove to be a less divisive figure than Grayling but make no mistake, he will do as he is told. I do find it ironic that he talks of making justice available to the poor whilst at the same time his party thinks it fair and equitable to impose the CCC. First there was the cuts to legal aid & now there is the CCC and who is hit the hardest? The least well off of course, the very same people who tend to figure so prominently in the lower court. Can you imagine the public outcry if changes of a similar magnitude and effect were to take place within the NHS? Of course the NHS is ring fenced and these days it seems that the NHS has become a kind of religion. It would be political suicide to suggest that cuts in the NHS should happen.Justice needs to be protected in the same way but it won't happen because not enough people care or are even aware of what is happening.
Apologies to add to this debate but let's not forget Gove's brilliant idea of slashing legal aid and then expecting the lawyers to pick up the tab for free. I'm sorry but why should they? Would you expect to employ a plumber to fix your tap and then say 'sorry mate but I thought you could do it at no charge cos you've been to plumbing school and learnt your trade for years so won't mind'
DeleteHis other great idea is that the big City commercial firms should do a bit of free work for the poor unfortunates at the local Mags. Reality check boys and girls - City lawyers know naff all about crime. It's beneath them. Even the newest trainee would rather do photocopying than mix with the great unwashed down at that end of the legal market. It is a recipe for complete disaster. And I say that as a lawyer, ex CPS prosecutor and current JP.
My original point is that the subject of Gove's proposals that came out are almost everything that the judiciary WANT, have not been discussed in a thread on here and since it affects the magistracy, I thought I ought to point out the "omission"
DeleteThe CCC is irrelevant to the point I was making. No doubt not everything is right in the the proposals, but this site is not (IMHO) meant to be (or is it ) a whineathon for Magistrates, which is what it is tending towards in both the threads and the comments.
OK that my 50ps worth.. of to work..
A (probably apocryphal - although it was in Newcastle, so anything's possible!) story I heard from a work colleague a while back:
ReplyDeleteA fight broke out in a snooker & pool club, and a guy whacked someone over the back with the snooker rest so hard that it snapped in two. Both blokes got chucked out and scarpered. Later the police turned up, and a copper stood in front of the big screen holding the two broken pieces above his head and shouted "who can tell me anything about this?"
The reply came "You are under a rest!"
Anonymous25 June 2015 at 08:49:
ReplyDeleteRe; a magistrates forum. Check out http://magistrates.today