2024 Year 6 Mock Trial Competition
The Greater Manchester Magistrates' Association held their annual Year 6 Mock Trial Competition on the 28th June 2024 at Hemsley House, Salford, Manchester. Sixteen primary schools from all across Greater Manchester entered. Each school was allocated to represent either the prosecution or defence in the case of R. vs Jo Stockwell in two simulated court rooms. The charge Jo faced was one of Possession of a Bladed Article in a public place.
The roles of the solicitors, complainant, defendant, witnesses, ushers, legal advisor, and Magistrates were all played by the students from opposing schools.
Feedback from the Head Teacher of a participating primary school :
"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. "
Two trials were run at the same time, with eight trials being held during the day. A Presiding Justice from Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community oversaw the proceedings in each of the two courts.
This year we also ran a Knives: Choices and Consequences interactive quiz workshop for all the students, which fitted in with the mock trial topic of Possession of a Bladed Article in a public place.
Throughout the day other activities were arranged to further engage the students and reinforce key messages around keeping safe in the community. There were exhibits and activities organised by Greater Manchester Police, Travel Safe, British Transport Police and Early Break. In addition, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service provided a fire engine and crew to talk to the pupils in the yard on all aspects of fire safety.
It was a tightly fought competition in both court rooms. The outcome did not depend on the verdict of the trial or whether the defendant was found guilty or not guilty. The judges, all current Magistrates from the Greater Manchester Bench, evaluated each team performance on how well they argued the case and knowledge of the court process. There was also an opportunity for pupils who didn’t want a speaking role to enter the Court Reporter and Court Artist competition.
The students really embraced their court appearance and gave it their all. This year the overall winning team was Whittaker Moss Primary School, Rochdale with Sacred Heart RC Primary School, Wigan coming a very close second and taking the Runners Up shield.
For each of the sixteen teams that took part, there was also an award presented by the High Sheriff for the Outstanding Individual Performance. Every participating student also received a certificate of attendance.
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.
The Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community team are available to talk to students in both Primary and Secondary schools and other interested community groups about the role of magistrates and the law. They have a series of interactive presentations and can run a mock trial in the classroom on a range of different topics including Knife Crime, Cyber Bullying and Choices and Consequences facing young people.
For further information or to request a visit please email us at enquiries@gmma-mic.net
