I went to Leicester Magistrates for a Warrant on Monday. After a fourth noise nuisance despite warnings we apply for a Magistrates Warrant to enter the house (or, occasionally, bar or club) and take the sound system. On a good day we get into Court early, smile nicely at the Usher (who facilitates the proceedings), who then tells the court Clerk (a lawyer who actually organises the proceedings and gives legal advice to the Magistrates who are, after all, amateurs). If the clerk is in a good mood and maybe recognises you from a previous occasion, he or she checks the paperwork, and invites you to join the Magistrates in their little room at the back of the Court. You present your case, answer questions, and hopefully are granted a Warrant. Our warrants are heard in private, rather than open court, since we don’t want the “noise maker” to know we will be coming.
On a bad day you have to wait in Court, ready to be called when the Clerk decrees that there is a suitable slot for you. Last time I had to sit and listen to address after address being read out by a British Gas chap, applying for warrants to change the meter to one with a high unit cost to pay the debt as well as buy gas/electricity. People are generally not disconnected these days. The debts were generally £100 to £300 but when the Magistrates heard of a couple between £1000 and £2000, they refused a warrant until the energy company could provide information how the debt had been allowed to get so high.
Monday was another bad day. “The Magistrates Court” is in fact several Courts. Court 1 suggested I go to Court 2. 2 sent me to 3 who directed me to 6 which seemed hopeful, but then the Clerk decided that I would have to wait, and I went to 9, where the Clerk was optimistic, since a trial was delayed, but then a missing interpreter turned up, and I was returned to 6, and finally back to 1 where I found that a Police Officer had sneaked in with Search Warrant applications, after which the “booked” proceedings were overdue, and I had to sit through these, although none were full trials
A woman with an electronic tag, had breached her bail conditions by leaving her flat. Her reason/excuse was that her dog had run out into the grounds of the flats. She retrieved the dog, and returned, less than two minutes, but the tag equipment notified a Security Company, who notified the Police, who prosecuted for breach of Bail. Magistrates accepted her story and didn’t “send her down”, although wouldn’t agree to her request that she be permitted into the garden area to take her dog to the toilet.
A chap appeared who was on remand for assaulting his partner, and had applied to be allowed out on bail until the trial. The circumstances were read out. A domestic argument had started over something minor and escalated via texts when the partner left home, and then verbally when she returned, until the bloke “saw red” and tried to strangle her. It started as the sort of disagreement that occurs in most families, but escalated because one of the parties did not recognise the boundary of acceptable behaviour. At the time of the assault he was already on bail for a drug related offence. Bail was refused, and he was led back to the prison van in handcuffs.
A woman had failed to pay an instalment of a fine and had been arrested with an application that she pays the full balance. She had given birth and hence missed one payment of £15. All previous payments had been on time. The Magistrates just required her to pay the missed payment. I wonder what the cost of bringing that to Court was?
Over two hours after entering the Court I was granted my Warrant and went back to the office to sort out an intruder alarm before it kept the neighbours awake.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
