In this essay I will be discussing and comparing my visit Isleworth Crown Court and Hendon Magistrate’s Court. I will be comparing them in terms of structure, case load, persons working there and stating the differences between the conduct that is displayed in each of the respective courts. I will also talk about the different types of crimes that are tried in each respective court and give case examples and their outcomes.
I visited Isleworth criminal court and sat in on various cases that were at the different stages of a trial. I also visited Hendon Magistrates court and the physical structure of both courts is similar. The accused and a probation officer sit in a room with a huge glass window. The accused representation sits closest to …show more content…
In the magistrate’s court it is less formal as only the court clerk wears a robe but in the crown court everyone but the accused wears a robe. Furthermore, their places in the court hierarchy is different as magistrates being the lowest criminal court and the crown court is above magistrates. In the crown court there is a judge and jury that decide on a case while in the magistrate there are three magistrates or one high court judge. All the criminal cases started from Magistrates for example there was a case I witnessed where a male was accused of burglary of Sainsbury’s by crashing into it with a car and then stole cigarettes worth £10,000. Even though the accused pled not guilty because of the limited powers of the magistrates they decided to send the case to the crown court for it to be tried there.
When I visited Isleworth crown court, a man accused of car theft was being tried and I came in when the prosecutor was reading out the answers which the accused gave to the jury and the police officer who conducted the interview was in the witness box and it took two hours which the court adjourned for lunch. On the other hand, in that same amount of period the magistrates would have gone through a more significant number of …show more content…
The crown court hands out more harsher sentences compared to the magistrates court for example in Isleworth crown court there was a 19 year old male who pleaded guilty to four counts of possession and intent to supply heroin and cannabis and I watched the barrister defending him pleading for the judge to give him a lighter sentence as his grandfather died and that the addiction to heroin is what drove him to commit these crimes and after he has served his time he plans to move to Manchester and start over his life. The judge replied that he would take all that into consideration and sentenced the individual to 2 and half years while in Hendon magistrates there was a man who pled guilty to damage of property and he got a fine of
I visited Isleworth criminal court and sat in on various cases that were at the different stages of a trial. I also visited Hendon Magistrates court and the physical structure of both courts is similar. The accused and a probation officer sit in a room with a huge glass window. The accused representation sits closest to …show more content…
In the magistrate’s court it is less formal as only the court clerk wears a robe but in the crown court everyone but the accused wears a robe. Furthermore, their places in the court hierarchy is different as magistrates being the lowest criminal court and the crown court is above magistrates. In the crown court there is a judge and jury that decide on a case while in the magistrate there are three magistrates or one high court judge. All the criminal cases started from Magistrates for example there was a case I witnessed where a male was accused of burglary of Sainsbury’s by crashing into it with a car and then stole cigarettes worth £10,000. Even though the accused pled not guilty because of the limited powers of the magistrates they decided to send the case to the crown court for it to be tried there.
When I visited Isleworth crown court, a man accused of car theft was being tried and I came in when the prosecutor was reading out the answers which the accused gave to the jury and the police officer who conducted the interview was in the witness box and it took two hours which the court adjourned for lunch. On the other hand, in that same amount of period the magistrates would have gone through a more significant number of …show more content…
The crown court hands out more harsher sentences compared to the magistrates court for example in Isleworth crown court there was a 19 year old male who pleaded guilty to four counts of possession and intent to supply heroin and cannabis and I watched the barrister defending him pleading for the judge to give him a lighter sentence as his grandfather died and that the addiction to heroin is what drove him to commit these crimes and after he has served his time he plans to move to Manchester and start over his life. The judge replied that he would take all that into consideration and sentenced the individual to 2 and half years while in Hendon magistrates there was a man who pled guilty to damage of property and he got a fine of