Ever been a witness in court?
Discussion
Witness to a motor accident, car in front of me turned right in front of a biker, the driver changed his plea after my statement.
I had to take a day off work and travelled 200 miles to attend Court.
Second time I was asked to attend Court, some people were fly tipping down a country lane, Ford Transits full of stuff, called the Council and the Police, took pics and gave them all the info they needed. They turned up four days later. They asked me to attend Court, I feared reprisals and told them to get lost
I had to take a day off work and travelled 200 miles to attend Court.
Second time I was asked to attend Court, some people were fly tipping down a country lane, Ford Transits full of stuff, called the Council and the Police, took pics and gave them all the info they needed. They turned up four days later. They asked me to attend Court, I feared reprisals and told them to get lost
I was called as a witness to a potential stabbing/assault in a neighbours house.
Got suited and booted, spent the best part of a day in the waiting room only to not get called!
I was pleased as it meant I didn't get seen by any potential scrotes in the public gallery.
Scumbag in the dock got 8 years which was a result
Got suited and booted, spent the best part of a day in the waiting room only to not get called!
I was pleased as it meant I didn't get seen by any potential scrotes in the public gallery.
Scumbag in the dock got 8 years which was a result
Former professional witness, so one or two times...
There's normally a preponderance of coppers around the usual justice factory to put off those keen on discussing matters on the steps outside and in all my time doing it (they were gentler times of course - think of the period between Stephen Lawrence and Rolf Harris) I never heard of it happening.
Your name and address have already been disclosed to the defence because they're on the witness statement that the nice policeman with dodgy handwriting, spelling and grammar wrote for you. You only disclose your name in court (although they've already told the court who's coming next).
There's normally a preponderance of coppers around the usual justice factory to put off those keen on discussing matters on the steps outside and in all my time doing it (they were gentler times of course - think of the period between Stephen Lawrence and Rolf Harris) I never heard of it happening.
Your name and address have already been disclosed to the defence because they're on the witness statement that the nice policeman with dodgy handwriting, spelling and grammar wrote for you. You only disclose your name in court (although they've already told the court who's coming next).
lizardbrain said:
Also spent the whole day and never got called.
They overbook in case of no shows i guess
Or more likely the defendant changed their plea to guilty.They overbook in case of no shows i guess
Many witnesses don't turn up to court, so the accused will chance this happening and plead not guilty. As soon as they know the witness has turned up, they change their plea, so everyone else goes home after a wasted day, including the jury.
There should be an automatic hefty fine for this.
Me and my mum turned up -along with a host of others - as witnesses to Bradford CC. Or was it Halifax? Very well publicised (Watchdog etc) dodgy 4x4 dealer being taken to court by trading standards. I’d done tons of research and tracking down of various things and been feeding this info to West Yorks TS as well.
We all had to be sneaked in a back entrance and held in a room away from anyone due to risks of intimidation.
.
We all had to be sneaked in a back entrance and held in a room away from anyone due to risks of intimidation.
.
I had to give evidence in a criminal trial in the Crown Court - I was first witness for the prosecution and it was slightly unnerving when the defendant who was on bail was wandering around in the same waiting area during breaks in proceedings!
Plenty of police (armed)about although there was another big trial going in at same time.
The key when giving your evidence is to stick to the facts and it let the opposing barrister bamboozle you - because they will. In my case he went down a line of questions which I had no option to agree with until he went for the one where he hoped, against the facts, that I would also agree with.
When I didnt he must have asked the same question, phrased slightly differently each time, about 4 times before moving on since I was giving the same truthful answer based on facts.
Plenty of police (armed)about although there was another big trial going in at same time.
The key when giving your evidence is to stick to the facts and it let the opposing barrister bamboozle you - because they will. In my case he went down a line of questions which I had no option to agree with until he went for the one where he hoped, against the facts, that I would also agree with.
When I didnt he must have asked the same question, phrased slightly differently each time, about 4 times before moving on since I was giving the same truthful answer based on facts.
Yep.
We used to live in a house located on a farm not far from a small industrial estate. There was this unmade 'private' road that led from the local pub to near to our house that we had access to. Heading back in the car one night, I stumbled across three high suspicious dudes hanging around the land close to the edge of the fence. Called the Rozzers who promptly caught them red-handed breaking in. I was star (only) witness!
Just had to recount what I'd seen on the night and describe the people I saw.
They all defended themselves. They were so thick I remember actually feeling sorry for them. Part of my description included mention that the larger bald guy was smoking. When he gave evidence, he said that he didn't smoke but had a packet of B&H clearly lodged in his shirt pocket. Their defence was that there were on a walk and got lost and were looking for someone to ask directions.
The only out-of court engagement I encountered was when we were waiting to go in. One of them came over and asked if I could drop the charge (!) as they had a kid.... I started to explain that that wasn't really up to me and these two guards robustly directed them to their seats.
We used to live in a house located on a farm not far from a small industrial estate. There was this unmade 'private' road that led from the local pub to near to our house that we had access to. Heading back in the car one night, I stumbled across three high suspicious dudes hanging around the land close to the edge of the fence. Called the Rozzers who promptly caught them red-handed breaking in. I was star (only) witness!
Just had to recount what I'd seen on the night and describe the people I saw.
They all defended themselves. They were so thick I remember actually feeling sorry for them. Part of my description included mention that the larger bald guy was smoking. When he gave evidence, he said that he didn't smoke but had a packet of B&H clearly lodged in his shirt pocket. Their defence was that there were on a walk and got lost and were looking for someone to ask directions.
The only out-of court engagement I encountered was when we were waiting to go in. One of them came over and asked if I could drop the charge (!) as they had a kid.... I started to explain that that wasn't really up to me and these two guards robustly directed them to their seats.
I gave evidence in court around 25 years ago. I was out for a cycle along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh when two girls (aged around 11 as I later found out) called out to me to say they were stuck; they were climbing up a ladder from a weir and were just fooling around. I carried on for about 10 metres and saw a dodgy looking guy sitting on a bench looking at the girls. He also had a porn magazine on the bench next to him. I carried on for a bit but felt uneasy about what I had just seen so I called the Police. At the time I was working as a civilian in a temporary post with the Police so I called the local station direct. I hung around for a bit but they never turned up and when I went back there was no sign of the girls or the man on the bench.
I carried on my cycle and on the way back I saw a police car coming down a track near where I had reported the previous incident. The girls had returned home and told their parents that the man had asked them to perform oral sex on him, which finally triggered the Police to investigate. I gave them my work details (the nearby Police HQ) and went on my way. In less than 100 yards I came face to face with the guy, so turned back and caught up with the Police and we all ran to where I had seen the guy, who by this time had attempted to hide in a clearing off the path. He was arrested. I later picked him out from an identity parade, and met the girls and their parents afterwards. Thankfully the girls were very streetwise for their age and it didn’t appear to have had a massive impact on them.
My appearance in court didn’t take long. I gave my evidence to the prosecutor (including identifying the porn mag!), and the defence solicitor tried to trip me up over the location, but my job at the time was classifying crime reports so I knew Edinburgh really well. He was ultimately given a suspended sentence and a fine. I don’t doubt that he will have gone on to commit other crimes. I did receive a Police Commendation for reporting the incident, which my mum (who worked for the Police) was really proud of!
I carried on my cycle and on the way back I saw a police car coming down a track near where I had reported the previous incident. The girls had returned home and told their parents that the man had asked them to perform oral sex on him, which finally triggered the Police to investigate. I gave them my work details (the nearby Police HQ) and went on my way. In less than 100 yards I came face to face with the guy, so turned back and caught up with the Police and we all ran to where I had seen the guy, who by this time had attempted to hide in a clearing off the path. He was arrested. I later picked him out from an identity parade, and met the girls and their parents afterwards. Thankfully the girls were very streetwise for their age and it didn’t appear to have had a massive impact on them.
My appearance in court didn’t take long. I gave my evidence to the prosecutor (including identifying the porn mag!), and the defence solicitor tried to trip me up over the location, but my job at the time was classifying crime reports so I knew Edinburgh really well. He was ultimately given a suspended sentence and a fine. I don’t doubt that he will have gone on to commit other crimes. I did receive a Police Commendation for reporting the incident, which my mum (who worked for the Police) was really proud of!
In the early 80’s my then girlfriend, was witness to some details of an armed robbery, by appearance alone she was the archetypal dippy hippy chick, Indian style long flowing dresses, odd footwear, strange jewellery all backed up by the unmistakable scent of Patchouli oil.
Behind all this, was a very intelligent woman, (some may question her choice of boyfriend) with several degrees in unrelated subjects, who would later go on the gain a masters degree all topped of with a doctorate in “Information technology retrieval”.
Near to our house an armed robbery of a post office took place, plod were doing door to door. The thieves had parked their second getaway car outside our house, while she hadn’t seen the ‘getaway’, she had witness the thieves parking the car a couple of days earlier.
Plod: Can you describe the men to me.
H: Yes there were 2, one was ……..
Plod: Can you remember the colour of the car?
H: It was a light brown, MK5 Ford Cortina with ….
Plod: A MK5 Fo
H: Yes, the rear lights are ….. and the …..
Cue, plods look of disbelief, as all his previously held assumptions, honed from years of experience, flew out the window.
She would go on to be a crucial witness in the identification of the perps and a key witness in the trial.
Behind all this, was a very intelligent woman, (some may question her choice of boyfriend) with several degrees in unrelated subjects, who would later go on the gain a masters degree all topped of with a doctorate in “Information technology retrieval”.
Near to our house an armed robbery of a post office took place, plod were doing door to door. The thieves had parked their second getaway car outside our house, while she hadn’t seen the ‘getaway’, she had witness the thieves parking the car a couple of days earlier.
Plod: Can you describe the men to me.
H: Yes there were 2, one was ……..
Plod: Can you remember the colour of the car?
H: It was a light brown, MK5 Ford Cortina with ….
Plod: A MK5 Fo
H: Yes, the rear lights are ….. and the …..
Cue, plods look of disbelief, as all his previously held assumptions, honed from years of experience, flew out the window.
She would go on to be a crucial witness in the identification of the perps and a key witness in the trial.
Closest I came was when I worked in our ops room taking calls, 999/101. A civillian not an officer. We used to sign witness statements taken by a PC based with us in case needed for a court case. Basically saying we took the call that was logged in evidence ( recording). A procedural thing to dot the "i's" and cross the "t's".
I was never actually needed in court but was on standby a couple of times, having to keep dates free for a potential call.
I was never actually needed in court but was on standby a couple of times, having to keep dates free for a potential call.
Edited by sospan on Sunday 27th October 09:46
Never been called as a witness. Nearest to being called was when my job sometimes involved doing the background stuff for expert witnesses. I would sometimes attend court and watch from the public gallery, often very interesting. Seemed to me that the barristers job, both sides, was to completely bamboozle the witness thus nullifying there testimonies.
I attended a few courses related to this type of work. The one thing that has stuck in my mind was to stick to the facts, no bulls
t, the other side and the judge will see straight through it. Any doubt on what the question meant, ask for clarification. If you don't know the answer, say so. That would be my advice to the OP.
Anyway, back to nearly being called. The trial was related to a motorcycle accident. The judge who often looked half asleep, but clearly wasn't, stopped proceedings and asked for the expert witnesses, barristers and others related to the case to attend him in his chambers. I felt very important when a court official came looking for me in the public gallery and asked me in the most polite but official way to go to the judges chambers.
The upshot being that the other side had made such a mess of their case the judge, who, I now realised had an incredibly sharp mind, was fed up with their very, very poorly constructed case. He bked them inside out. He congratulated our side on a very well constructed defence.
Back in to court to to hear the verdict. The plaintiff lost his case and had cost awarded against him (seven figure sum). It seemed to me that the plaintiff had been lead on by his expert witnesses. I would like to think the judge felt sorry for him so he didn't need to pay cost unless he came in to a large sum of money. I think it was called a football pools verdict, or something like.
I attended a few courses related to this type of work. The one thing that has stuck in my mind was to stick to the facts, no bulls
t, the other side and the judge will see straight through it. Any doubt on what the question meant, ask for clarification. If you don't know the answer, say so. That would be my advice to the OP.Anyway, back to nearly being called. The trial was related to a motorcycle accident. The judge who often looked half asleep, but clearly wasn't, stopped proceedings and asked for the expert witnesses, barristers and others related to the case to attend him in his chambers. I felt very important when a court official came looking for me in the public gallery and asked me in the most polite but official way to go to the judges chambers.
The upshot being that the other side had made such a mess of their case the judge, who, I now realised had an incredibly sharp mind, was fed up with their very, very poorly constructed case. He b
ked them inside out. He congratulated our side on a very well constructed defence.Back in to court to to hear the verdict. The plaintiff lost his case and had cost awarded against him (seven figure sum). It seemed to me that the plaintiff had been lead on by his expert witnesses. I would like to think the judge felt sorry for him so he didn't need to pay cost unless he came in to a large sum of money. I think it was called a football pools verdict, or something like.
Drink driver bounced his car down the road outside our house late one night. After he picked the bonet up and slammed it back in place he stuck it in gear and tried to drive off on the starter motor.......very slowly as I walked along side him. I removed the keys and we waited for the police. He then disputed it and I had to spend a day at court where he rolled over just before we went in. Waste of my day and the court fee didn't cover all my lost wages. At least the Muppet was off the road for a bit. Price of being a civilised member of society.
I have made a few statements as a witness to our neighbours attention seeking, but none have actually made it to court. Basically, they have a row, she calls the Police making up some complete and utter bks about him - her on/off boyfriend (cracking one out in the back garden for one, denying she even knows who he is and he is stalking her for another). Police take statements and a couple of times lock him up for the night (they just see a "vulnerable" female and believe her bks). Then they start a case going, but she has a change of heart and/or they make up and it all falls apart. Rinse and repeat every few months.
ks about him - her on/off boyfriend (cracking one out in the back garden for one, denying she even knows who he is and he is stalking her for another). Police take statements and a couple of times lock him up for the night (they just see a "vulnerable" female and believe her bks). Then they start a case going, but she has a change of heart and/or they make up and it all falls apart. Rinse and repeat every few months.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff