IPSWICH CROWN COURT

Last Friday, me and my slightly hungover journalist girls headed over to Ipswich for an experience we had yet to experience, A crown court. Ipswich is the closest one to the University, so on only three hours sleep, we headed for a rather early train.

You could say that our roughness added to the experience, 5 girls who are dying from over intoxication whilst sitting in on cases that decide whether a person goes to jail or is set free really isn't ideal, and I certainly do not recommend it.

All jokes aside, it was extremely interesting. We had a private conversation with one of the judges, who talked us through a typical day in the life of a crown court judge. He explained how the media has portrayed him in the past, positively and negatively. He also showed gratitude towards the reporting of a writer, for a local paper.

He reminded us all the laws behind reporting, and how we can be prosecuted for breaking them, which links to our NCTJ studies. Reminders of how Important the contempt of court act never go unnoticed, as I personally don't want to be arrested before my career has even begun.

The judge also explained why not all cases can be open justice, and for a handful of reason. It 100% started to make sense, it’s like what we were learning in those media law lessons was coming to life. He explained that generally, when he is reviewing a sentence that has passed, it is of no business to the public because its personal.

We sent in a handful of questions for him to answer for us, and a few he skimmed over however there was a couple that he touched on that really stuck with me. The first question was "How do you stop your own prejudices getting in the way of your verdict?" and he simply replied that he can’t let it get in the way, because it’s his job. He pointed out that he has opinions on certain things, however he can’t let those things effect his position in society, as he has an important role within the justice system. And in my opinion that takes an extremely strong-minded person to not let those opinions slightly cloud your judgement.

The next question had a slightly sinister objective, however he was asked "what is the worst case you've had to deal with?" and he gave a very broad answer of Sex cases. He said that any sex case is usually the worst, especially if they include children. Sex cases more times than not, include family members and a history of sexual abuse, which is typically hard and upsetting to go over in this environment. Plus, they are hard to report on due to anonymity, which means the media need to tread carefully when writing about these court cases.

All in all, headaches and hangovers aside, the whole day was super effective in terms of learning and understanding. As rough as we felt while we were there, the information we took away from it was rather useful and has impacted my education. So, for that I'm grateful. However next time we make a court trip, I'm hoping it doesn't start at 9am!