Lawyers of the future got the chance to see the justice system in action as part of a trip to Birmingham Magistrates Court.
Year 12 BTEC and A-Level Law students got the chance to tour the building’s mix of modern and historic courtrooms - including those used in the filming of British legal drama TV series, Judge John Deed.
After the supervised tour, students took their seats in the public gallery to watch Prosecutors, Defence Solicitors and Magistrates at work during a number of court cases.
BTEC students saw two drink drivers prosecuted, with the defendants fined and given driving bans. They also saw a defendant plead not guilty to a drugs charge and sent to Crown Court for trial.
Law teacher, Mrs N Allen, said: “The second group in the afternoon also saw three cases.
“One defendant was charged with assault and sent to Crown Court for sentencing.
“The second was a man charged with a racially aggravated incident against a Salvation Army volunteer, who was given a tagging order, and the the final case was a shoplifter who got a conditional discharge.
“Our students are currently studying the criminal courts process, so this was a great experience for them to see how Magistrates are able to deal with some offences but have to pass others on to Crown Court.
“They are also learning about the role of Magistrates, so this visit certainly helped them to put their learning into context.”
