How to Unclog our Courts

On Tuesday morning I was at Crawley Magistrates Court, where I pleaded (or is it ‘pled’?) guilty to a speeding offence from last September. I was already on nine points when it happened, although three of those had already come off my licence in November. That doesn’t count though.

Anyway, as expected, I was banned from driving or six months. Obviously, that is a bit of a blow but as John pointed out, if you do the crime, you do the time. You can imagine how that went down with me!

What I wasn’t expecting was to be in the media because of it. I saw a man sitting at the back of the court, but assumed he was a member of the public. As part of the proceedings, I was asked how much I had earned. A sixth sense told me not to reveal it in open court, so I asked the magistrates if I could pass them a note, which I then did.

As I walked out of the court I walked towards a man who had a video camera. “Who are you,” I asked. “I’m a court reporter,” he replied. Even then, I didn’t really expect it to get a lot of coverage – maybe a three line nib in the Daily Express. Boy was I wrong. By 3pm the Daily Mail had published a lengthy article detailing all my historical misdemeanours. They made five errors in the article, including the location of the offence, and the picture of the model of car I was driving. And then a similar article appeared on the Telegraph website. Both included a very unflattering picture of me walking out of the court. An LBC colleague whatsapped me to say: “Proof that you’re a celebrity”. Ha bloody Ha.

So why am I telling you all this? Because the experience I had that morning was a bit of a lightbulb moment, but not in the way you might be thinking.

When I looked on to the Court Serve website to check my case was listed for the day, I couldn’t believe the number of other similar speeding cases were listed. In each case, the person had already pleaded guilty.

No wonder the magistrates’ courts are clogged up. I looked at other courts and it was the same. At least half of the cases being heard were purely for sentencing for speeding offences. Surely this could have been done remotely and online? Of course, everyone should continue to have a right to their day in court, and be sentenced in person, but I fail to see why so many cases require an actual appearance. Am I alone in this?

Anyway, if you know anyone in Tunbridge Wells who might like to drive me around for the next six months, do let me know! John doesn’t fancy it. Can’t think why.