Magistrates’ Mock Trial Competition

Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham

For the third year in a row, the Magistrates’ Mock Trial team competed in the National Finals. In order to get there, they had won both the local heat in Crewe in March and the Regional Finals in Crewe in May. 318 teams entered the competition, and these wins put them in the top 16 teams in the UK. The standard of the Regional Finals was extremely high, and that of the National Finals was even better. We were pitched against top selective grammar schools, and we came 2nd!

The day was held in the beautiful and majestic Victoria Law Courts in Birmingham. The Solicitor General, Robert Buckland, gave an address, stressing the extraordinary achievement of all the teams competing and the fundamental importance of the Rule of Law. The High Sherriff of the West Midlands, Jonnie Turpie MBE, watched the performances in his fabulous regalia and sword.

Our team fought two cases.

In R v Taylor, a youth wearing a hoodie, a backpack and sunglasses stole a phone from a florist’s shop. Later on, the police found a similar backpack further up the road with Miss Taylor’s bus pass in it, and found Miss Taylor outside a phone shop with £60 in her pocket. Her barristers (Evie Smith and Emily Short) argued that lots of people wear hoodies and sunglasses, and the bag was a mile away from the phone shop. Would the thief really have dumped the bag where it could be found so easily and then walked a whole mile to the phone shop with highly incriminating evidence, like a stolen phone, in their pocket?

In R v Fisher, Miss Fisher was seen by Pat Groves (Caitlin Medcalf) next to a car which was covered in red and green paint. She said she’d just gone there for a smoke with her friend, and it was a group of boys who did it. Did she paint the car? Our prosecution team, (Lauren Phillips and Mia Connor) ably argued that she did. She had green paint on her clothes, and she failed to mention the boys to the police when they arrested her. And, if these mystery boys really existed, how come her friend didn’t see them?

Jessica Walter gave an impeccable performance as the police woman on the scene, and doubled as an usher in the other case. Lucy Vincent, as the legal advisor, gave a clear account of the facts of the case and the legal issues it raised.

We were asked to perform R v Taylor so that the Citizenship Foundation could film us and use it for publicity. Before performing, Charlotte Kraunsoe politely apologised to the barrister who was to cross-examine her, explaining that she was going to be horrible to him. He assured her that he would be even nastier. Charlotte treated that as a gauntlet thrown down on the floor. She won. She gave an Oscar-worthy performance as a vacuous bimbo obsessed with being a fashion icon and having a bikini-ready body ready to impress Johnny Essex. The Magistrates tried valiantly to look serious, but couldn’t resist cracking smiles.

Her friend, Chris Cooke (Caitlin Ebbern) backed her up, putting the inconsistencies in their evidence down to ditsiness: ‘I should have been blonde’. Evie Smith delivered beautifully a stunning defence speech, which all the judges gave 10/10 for in the earlier round.

The Magistrates were Emily Gaskin and whichever barristers were not in court. They displayed acumen and minute critical analysis, quoting the Law and arguing the finer as well as the major points. They concluded that the evidence circumstantial, and did not satisfy the standard of proof: ‘sure, beyond reasonable doubt’.

Dr Pulle came to watch, as did several parents. Standing up to argue a case in front of real, experienced judges when you have no idea what the other side is going to throw at you is terrifying, and we needed all the moral support we could get. Despite this, the judges commented that they wished the professional barristers they came across were as well prepared and articulate as we were.

The students worked as a real team and it showed in their performances. All the very hard work and hours of rehearsal was worthwhile. We cradled our shiny cup on the train on the way home, glowing with a sense of achievement which can only be achieved by venturing far, far outside our comfort zones, and succeeding.