14. Jan. 2010. – 12:21:44
Over the years the utterings of those in court, officers as well as defendants, can stretch one`s tolerance but also the smile muscles. An example of the former was when a defendant appeared for sentencing on two quite separate charges of theft from a shop. The pre sentence report from the Probation Service referred throughout to the offence committed on a particular date. When the probation officer present in court was asked about the omission of any reference to the second offence [committed while on bail for the first] she replied, "We were given only one file on one offence." In response the Crown prosecutor when asked to comment confirmed 100% that two files had been handed over. I am sad to say that inefficiencies by both agencies are on the increase. This could be a combination of reduced funding leading to staff being asked to cope with far too many cases and/or simply ineffective management and too many people still at work who should be sacked were it not for some aspects of employment legislation.
Over the years the utterings of those in court, officers as well as defendants, can stretch one`s tolerance but also the smile muscles. An example of the former was when a defendant appeared for sentencing on two quite separate charges of theft from a shop. The pre sentence report from the Probation Service referred throughout to the offence committed on a particular date. When the probation officer present in court was asked about the omission of any reference to the second offence [committed while on bail for the first] she replied, "We were given only one file on one offence." In response the Crown prosecutor when asked to comment confirmed 100% that two files had been handed over. I am sad to say that inefficiencies by both agencies are on the increase. This could be a combination of reduced funding leading to staff being asked to cope with far too many cases and/or simply ineffective management and too many people still at work who should be sacked were it not for some aspects of employment legislation.
The smile muscles were somewhat strained a couple of months ago when an 82 year old woman of previous good character was before us for breach of a non molestation order against her husband of similar age. She had harassed him by swearing at him with the most abusive language imaginable. Since she had been arrested and been in the cells for a couple of hours no further punishment was considered necessary and after a stern warning and a request that she didn`t repeat the offence the security officer helped her to walk to the exit door where a relative was waiting..............
Most of us know that if you drive into a tunnel under a river whether in Wales or Hull or Liverpool or Glasgow or London or virtually anywhere you are likely to find a single exit at the other end [with perhaps directions to various destinations]. Not so the teenager who appeared last year facing a charge of breaching the terms of his probation by not turning up to do his unpaid work in the community. He told us that he was going through the .....Tunnel from..... to..... and he coudn`t find the exit. Needless to say after the ripple of not so silent mirth had passed through the courtroom he was punished by a hefty increase in his hours to be worked.
I would suppose that long before my time on the Bench when the witness oath and laterally the affirmation was taken even the miscreants of what was then a God fearing population could be reckoned to be generally truthful at least some of the time. Nowadays it is occasionally necessary to remind witnesses of the seriousness of this act. A Muslim student in 2008 appeared to answer enquiries as to why he had not paid outstanding fines of around £300 from the year before. He put his hand on the Koran and read the oath whilst smiling at his friends in the public gallery and with his other hand in his pocket. He was told that if he appeared insincere or was thought to be lying, and that was the impression he was giving, he could be jailed for non payment. Sometimes the donkey needs a carrot in front of him to persuade him to walk on but often he needs a stick to his arse to make him.
Video technology for good or bad is well established within Her Majesty`s Court Service and will become much more common place over the next few years. Bail applications from prison are commonplace. The prisoner in a special area can see the court officials and magistrates depending on which cameras are "live". He cannot see the public gallery but he can be heard there. Last summer during a video link from the local prison the wife of the inmate was in the gallery whilst her husband on remand had made a bail application his face peering out from monitors around the courtroom and his Irish brogue emanating from those same monitors. When his application was refused and his view was of the chairman of the Bench telling him so he shouted out, "Tell my wife I love her, tell her I love her." The chairman replied, "You`ve shouted so loud I`m sure she heard you in Dublin never mind the public gallery where she`s listening". A tearful lady left the gallery and a "thank you sir" sounded from the monitors before the link was cut.
There is still humanity in the justice system.
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