Great Idea

One of my newer colleagues is the Bench's equivalent of Tigger - very bouncy but not always well controlled. He is youngish and very keen, and adds to the overall balance of the Bench.
I sat with him in the summer when we were faced with a tall young man who admitted a public order offence. He submitted a means form showing something like £47 per week Jobseekers' Allowance, and we were, as usual, gloomily contemplating just how little we could fine him when Tigger nudged me, and whispered: "Why don't we ask the jailers to see if he has any cash in his property?". So we did, and they did. He had £177 on him when arrested, which seemed curious for a workless man on less than seven quid a day. We fined him and added the victim surcharge and costs, which came in all to £172. That left him his bus fare home - we do try to be reasonable, you know.

The Drop

A few weeks ago I had the chance to practice a technique in which I was becoming rusty - The Drop. Years ago we often used suspended committals to prison as a way to loosen the wallets of recalcitrant finees. The Drop is the art of telling the man in the dock that you are committing him to prison, and then timing to a split second the words 'however this will be suspended....' - usually after putting the top back on your pen and taking off your glasses.
I was able to do it twice in one day. The first was a fine defaulter who had paid not a penny in seven years, and the second an offender who was just - and only just - on the safe side of the decision to suspend. It's a bit theatrical, but in these cases it got money out of the first chap, and put, I sincerely believe, the fear of god into the second.

More About NOMS

In my second-best court suit I have a neat clicky ballpoint pen that carries the printed logo of NOMS. I was given it at a conference in some swish London venue.
Now that we read NOMS is to be abolished, I am amused to find that the pen has lasted longer than NOMS did.

Oh No, Not Again!

The Home Secretary, who has up to now been sensibly subdued, has been got at by the marketing men, and assumed Straw/Blunkett/Clarke mode. Let us hope that this is just a planned conference-season piece of bull.
If not, lord help us all.

News to Me

I am grateful to Tony T for the following from the Sunday Times:-

Justice agency to be scrapped

The agency set up to improve the running of the criminal justice system is to be disbanded after being dismissed as monstrous bureaucracy. The National Offender Management Service was supposed to streamline the monitoring of criminals from the courts through prisons and into the probation service

Has anyone else heard about this?

Encouraging

I had lunch today with a man who was a school contemporary of my son, and who remains a good friend of us both. As some people do, he more or less threw away his early twenties in a series of dull jobs, and then he discovered the extra gear in his gearbox, changed up and put his foot down. He is now well into a law degree at a highly respected university, and I realised, a short way into our conversation, that he has developed a powerful and questioning intellect from which old chaps like me can learn a lot.
He will do well in time, and it dawned on me that in an era of increased life expectancy and longer careers it is no great handicap to qualify as a lawyer at 35, because you may still be working at 70, unlike those who qualified ten years younger.
I was educated in the Fifties and Sixties, and those who failed to make the grade at 11-plus, or O-level, or A-level were expected to bow to their fate and disappear into the maw of commerce or the public service. Nowadays a young man or woman who may just have grown up a little more slowly than their peers can, if they have the grit, start again and succeed. I truly wish them well.

Toad In A Hole (2)

There have been some interesting comments on the previous thread, and a deal of misunderstanding. Here we go, then:-
This was a matter of Dangerous Driving (not speeding). Dangerous driving is that where the standard falls far below that to be expected of a reasonably careful and competent driver. It is an either-way offence, which means that it could be tried before magistrates or the Crown Court. Since the driver pleaded guilty I presume that the lower court declined jurisdiction on the grounds that the case was too serious for its powers (it wasn't, apparently).
There was an earlier charge of TWOC since he did not have his employer's permission to use the vehicle but the Crown seems to have settled for a plea to Dangerous Driving. Speeding and No Insurance matters were not charged either.
As to the comments:- Some say this was a victimless crime. Indeed, but that was sheer good fortune. You could say the same about heaving a heavy object off a tall building where it misses passers-by on landing. The PC Milton case was in the lower court, so it is not a guide to subsequent cases in the way that a Crown Court case can be.
On a personal note I entirely agree about the way in which drivers who wish to break the law try to intimidate the law-abiding. I do most of my driving on motorways, and since I try to drive responsibly I am well used to being tailgated on a motorway that is full. I will always move to the left when there is room, but sometimes there is none. Because I am meticulous about maintaining a safe distance from the car in front, some other drivers become desperate to get by, presumably to tailgate the next car in the high speed queue. With the almost total lack of police patrols these days, this is going to get worse until the day that is not too far off, when car speeds will be electronically regulated from the roadside.

Toad In A Hole

Seems about right to me.

A Straw In The Wind

The Minister of Justice has clearly signposted the future direction of legal aid. A relatively modest proportion of the money is spent at magistrate's level, with High Court cases sometimes soaking up millions.
For myself, I have found the restrictions on legal aid irritating, creating as they do delay in getting cases started, and preventing us from granting legal aid in court where justice and expediency required it.

Yet Another Plug

I have previously written about courthouse open days, and I have had some very good feedback about them from visitors and hosts alike. This time it is Uxbridge Magistrates' Court, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its courthouse with an open day on the 29th September.
The courthouse will be open from 10 am to 4 pm, and I am told that the day will feature a full range of displays from agencies that use the court, along with mock trials, visits to the cells, and much more. Many members of the court's staff as well as magistrates will be present to answer questions on all aspects of their work. Anyone interested in applying to join the bench can talk to JPs with a wide range of experience, and can pick up information on the application process.
The court is a few minutes' walk from Uxbridge Underground station, and there is, they tell me, a good supply of local car parks.
Apparently you will even be able to have your photograph taken in the cells in exchange for a small donation to Victim Support. There will be no extra charge to be let out. Or so they say.