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We recently visited the Salford U3A adult group and gave a talk about the role of Magistrates and the Criminal Justice System, followed by a question and answer session. We were delighted to be asked back again to carry out a mock trial.
As with all our mock trials, we have a prepared script. In this case it involved an Assault by Beating in a pub. All the roles were played by members of the U3A, except for the Presiding Justice. The outcome of the trial is not scripted, with the role playing “Magistrates” and the audience being required to assess the evidence and decide on a guilty or not guilty verdict.
The session was enjoyed by all, and we were pleased to receive some very complementary feedback.
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160 CHILDREN IN COURT
FOR A CRIME THEY DIDN’T COMMIT
This heading was published by the Magistrates Association following our 2024 Year 6 Mock Trial Competition. To see the article, click on this link here
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A reporter from Hits Radio Manchester joined us at the Year 6 Mock Trial Competition. One of the organising magistrates and some of the students taking part were interviewed.
Click on this audio recording to hear what they broadcast shortly after the event:
When interviewed by the Hits Radio Manchester reporter, two of the students said this:
“A really big topic. It doesn’t get brought to light as much as it should.”
“If you go out carrying a knife, you’re more likely to get killed by your own knife!”
Greater Manchester Magistrates Association
Year 6 Mock Trial Competition 2024
Greater Manchester Magistrates Association Mock Trial Competition for year six students was held on June 28th 2024, at Hemsley House in Salford. It was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
This is the seventh time that this annual event has been held. It involves the students acting out a trial in which they play all the major roles including magistrates, solicitors, defendants, and witnesses.
One school takes on the roll of prosecution and the other defence. The student magistrates determine the verdict at the end of the trial. A verdict of guilty or not guilty does not affect the result of the competition, it all depends upon how well the students perform during the trial.
The topic for the trials this year was Possession of a Bladed Article. As well as the mock trials we held a Knife Crime Quiz Workshop for all the students.
In addition to the competition, other agencies attended the day to talk to students about staying safe. These included Greater Manchester Police, British Transport Police, Early Break (Health & Wellbeing Services), Travel Safe and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. Our sincere thanks go to them for their support.
The newly appointed High Sheriff of Manchester, Eamonn O’Neal DL attended and presented individual outstanding performance awards, the runners up shield and winners shield. Every participating student also received a certificate of attendance.
This year’s winners were Whittaker Moss Primary School, Rochdale and the runners up were Sacred Heart RC Primary School, Wigan.
There were also awards for the best Court Artist and Court Reporter.
We had 9 entries for Court Reporter and 7 entries for Court Artist. The standard this year was very high, and it was clear the children had put a lot of effort into their work. The entries were submitted some days after the mock trial competitions and were judged separately. This year, coincidentally, the winners were both from the same school.
The winner for best Court Artist was Elsie Alcock and Court Reporter was Phoebe Syricas, both from St Thomas CE Primary School, Stockport.
Presentation of certificates and prizes to the winning Court Artist and Court Reporter, Elsie Alcock and Phoebe Syricas by Paul Brearley JP, Deputy Lieutenant for Stockport and Dr Eamonn O'Neal DL, High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and a member of GM Magistrates in the Community team at Saint Thomas CE primary school, Heaton Moor, Stockport.
A couple of quotes received from participating teachers:
"The children had a fabulous time and the day created memories that will stay with them forever. Importantly, they also took some key messages about knife crime back to school with them. "
Deputy Headteacher, Whittaker Moss Primary, Rochdale.
"The children couldn't wait to share their experiences when they returned to school ..."
Teacher - Year 6.
See further information and lots more pictures of this event on the web page:
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Three of the Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community (GM-MIC) team have been to the Great Academy Ashton school.
They gave three one hour long presentations to year 10 classes who are doing Citizenship.
An interactive quiz was used to introduce the students to the Magistracy and the court system.
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SOCIAL WORK UNDERGRADUATES
EXPERIENCING ADULT & FAMILY COURTS
The Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community (GM-MIC) team were pleased to be invited back again to the Manchester Metropolitan University (ManMet). We helped to provide a group of about forty undergraduates some experience in working in adult and family courts. The students took part in an all-day session using their Moot Court facility. This started with a brief introduction to the role of the Magistrate. It was followed by a simulated sentencing exercise in which students learnt how to reach appropriate sentencing options in a Section 47 Assault case. They were shown how to use a structured approach by using the Sentencing Guidelines and analysing a range of factors.
The afternoon session involved a Family Court matter with a case study in the form of a short report prepared by a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at ManMet. The report was an application for a Special Guardianship Order and each of the students took the oath and were then asked questions on the report by the bench.
"Working with MIC enabled us to create an authentic and immersive learning experience for the students. Talking to and learning from people who make decisions in court is an invaluable experience for our students. It enhances their knowledge and skills in areas such as court etiquette, legal literacy, provision of best evidence and report writing. We were also very pleased to speak to the magistracy more generally about social work practice."
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Egerton Primary School held a Mock Trial on Cyber Bullying in March with two of the GM MIC team. It was held in the school hall, which was laid out like a court room with seats for the audience. Parents had been invited, in addition to the Headteacher.
The children played all the rolls, except for the presiding justice. They put a lot of effort into learning their parts and presenting in court. The two children who were Magistrates took notes during the Trial and were able to refer to specific evidence which they felt lead to a guilty verdict.
The Mock Trial went extremely well and there was tremendous praise from parents and the Headteacher for the children and for the MIC team.
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In January we were delighted to join in with the Poynton High School Student Development Day giving presentations to eight classes of year 8 students. To each group we gave a general introduction to the Magistrates Court followed by an interactive knife quiz workshop. This addressed the choices and consequences of carrying a knife for the individual, victims and families affected. Being an interactive quiz, it really involved the students and got them engaged to discuss the topics.
Following the event, it was so nice to receive a thank you card from one of the students:
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Greater Manchester Magistrates Association are very proud to have been awarded the
MA National Education Award 2023.
This was awarded by the national Magistrates Association at their Annual Conference AGM 2023 in recognition of the work of the Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community Team.
The citation with the award stated:
"Your branch has visited the most schools of any other branch in relation to your size demonstrating strong community outreach and educating initiative."
Rachel, the Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community (MIC) Coordinator accepted the award on behalf of the whole MIC team. To hear what Rachel said about how we aim to influence the choices young people make through the GM MIC outreach work, click on the following link:
Details of this on the Magistrates Association X or Twitter feed can be seen via the following link:
https://x.com/MagsAssoc/status/1736802937576501735?s=20
This now joins the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester's Citation that was presented to us following another very sucessful Annual Year 6 Mock Trial Competition, held in June 2023.
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2023 WAS A VERY BUSY YEAR FOR GM-MIC
In 2023 we were delighted to have been invited to give presentations and other interactive activities to approximately 1,700 students and adults. We completed 162 visits to schools, colleges, universities and community groups. These have been spread over all ten of the Greater Manchester Boroughs.
The GM Magistrates Association has been working in partnership with GMP Violence Reduction Unit and Round Midnight to launch the Violence Prevention through Virtual Education programme, Virtual Decisions. More details about this are shown on this web page:
VIRTUAL REALITY KNIFE CRIME REDUCTION INITIATIVE
We are already arranging visits well into 2025. If you would like us to visit your school or adult group, please email us at enquiries@gmma-mic.net
Feedback from a couple of the schools we have recently visited:
"The students thoroughly enjoyed the sentencing exercise and your visit (as always), and I think there might be a few budding lawyers emerging from the group!
Many thanks again to you and your colleagues for another excellent afternoon."
Teacher - Year 9 students
"Thanks so much for your time coming in to lead your sentencing session with our Sociology groups. In the lessons following your session it has been a brilliant reference point. It has been helpful for the students to have an idea of the processes involved in the magistrate’s court."
Teacher – Year 12 students
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Presentation to 450 Criminology students.
On the 20th October 2023 we had the pleasure of presenting to 450 first year Criminology students at Manchester Met’ University. This was the second time that we have been invited to give a presentation to the new academic years intake.
We started with using an online polling app to ask a few introductory questions. The students used their phones to answer, and we shared the results live with the audience. This was followed by a short PowerPoint presentation about the magistrates court. We finished with a sentencing case study for assault occasioning ABH. The students all had to participate by following structured sentencing methods and the court sentencing guidelines to determine the appropriate sentence.
We were delighted to receive very positive feedback from students and staff. Comments included “It truly brought the work of magistrates alive. It was an absolute highlight and really worked magic in engaging our very large cohort.”
The images below show the polling app and PowerPoint presentations taking place and the Magistrates in the Community team that assisted in presenting at the MMU.
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MIC PRESENTATIONS RISK ASSESSMENT
We have produced the following risk assessment plan which will apply to all MIC presenters until further notice:
- Teachers must accompany Magistrates in class at all times during the presentations.
- Names and contact details of visiting Magistrates will be sent to the organisation at least 24 hours prior to the presentation
- Presentation material can be emailed to the organisation in advance if required. All material is copyright to the Magistrates’ Association and should be deleted following the presentation.
- Magistrates should not operate the computer keyboard unless specifically authorised by the teacher/organiser.
- Magistrates will comply with any regulations set down by the venue.
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What others have said about MIC presentations:
"I liked the interactivity of making decisions about a case within a group since it made the experience quite fun and added variation, so it wasn't limited to just being a talk. I also thought the Magistrates walking around and getting involved with the group's discussions was good because it gave a chance to talk to them directly and added a new perspective to the decision-making process"
Student yr 10
"They explained their roles well and the interactive part where we got to discuss what sentencing we’d give the case study was really interesting"
Student yr 9
Teacher yr 9
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Where it all started:
Over 30 years ago the chair of the Magistrates Association started talking to local schools about what magistrates did.
She soon realised that many adults were also unaware of how the courts system worked.
The concept of Magistrates in the Community (MIC) was born and embedded as an integral part of the Magistrates' Association activities by fulfilling one of its charitable aims "... educating and instructing Magistrates and others in the law, the administration of justice, the treatment of offenders and the prevention of crime"
30 years on, magistrates from local benches are going out to schools, colleges and to community groups to talk about what we do. Across the country, we talk to more than 80,000 members of the public each year.
This website presents the activities of the MIC groups of Greater Manchester.
There is no presentation fee or any expectation of payment. If an adult organisation cares to make a voluntary contribution, this would be used to help fund our activities providing presentations, mock trials and knife crime initiatives to schools and other youth groups.