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The History Group

Leader:  Ronald (Yogi) Godwin - history@ashbyu3a.co.uk - phone 01530 467840


Yogi is ably assisted by Jane Barnett, Barbara Ball, Colin Ellis, Jane Harris and Isobel Salt

Contrary to what you may have heard, the Group is NOT closing but is continuing for at least next year.


All Ashby u3a members are welcome at our meetings.

All meetings with speakers will be held at Packington Memorial Hall on the 4th Thursday of the month.
Doors open for Packington meetings at 2.15pm. Admission £2

Details of visits will be advised closer to the time.
The following dates have been arranged, but may be subject to changes which will be announced as and when they are known.


Future programme
DateTimeVenueSpeaker & SubjectDetails

Thu 28th Nov2:15 pmPackington Village Hall.Sandy Leong - 'From the fury of Norsemen deliver us.'
Thu 26th Dec - No Meeting



Thursday 24th October. 'Tales from the Court'

41 members attended to listen to and question two local magistrates on their work and lives.

But first Yogi regaled us with anniversaries for this day.: Vesuvius blew its stack immolating and burying the population of Pompeii and Herculaneum along with two other towns; In 1492 there was a Jewish pogrom in Spain; in 1857 Sheffield FC became the first Football Association Club; In 1901 the first brave(!) soul, Annie Taylor, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel; In 1922 the Irish Parliament convened for the first time; and today marks the 609th St Crispin’s Day (For all those abed, it is time to stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood!)

Our magistrates, Steven and Susie, established their court at the foot of the stage, after we all rose to welcome them.

Each gave a potted history of how they came to be magistrates:

Susie, a Psychiatric Profiler by profession, was encouraged to join 25 years ago. She now sits in the Family Court dealing with child welfare, maintenance orders, and helping to prevent domestic abuse.

Steven, nudged into it at a young age by a member of RoSPA, has been a magistrate for 38 years. He sits in a criminal court and therefore, with the other members of the bench, can hand out fines and prison sentences.

Magistrates require no legal qualifications and in fact have no previous connection to the legal profession but receive considerable training and are supported in court by a legal adviser. They usually work as a team of three magistrates on a bench. Magistrates must be between 18 and 75 years of age.

By the dint of venturing remarks about their lives on the bench, and sparking questions from the audience, the session proceeded in a very informative way.

Almost all criminal cases start in a magistrate’s court and around 97% of them are completed there, but there are certain types of serious case that have to be referred to higher courts. Murder, serious assault, large scale thefts and so on. Some are referred at the request of the accused who can request a trial by jury. Whilst most cases take only a short time in court, there is no limit to how long a more complex case can last. Sometimes for several days.

All cases are decided on the basis of being beyond reasonable doubt. They are not allowed to know about previous charges or criminal history of the defendant as that might well prejudice their judgement, but when sentencing is due such history is made available for them to decide the sentence or other penalty. This can only be up to 6 months but the current government is looking at extending that to 12 months. If the penalty is likely to be longer, cases are sent to the High Courts for sentencing.

Other forms of sentencing, like fines, or tagging and restrictions, have to be considered in conjunction with the accused’s circumstances. Confining someone indoors who is a known abuser of their family is not a good idea, and if they live alone, how do they shop? There is a wide range of problems involved in this so the magistrate needs to be aware of unintended consequences. Fines for certain offences are sometimes based on the person’s ability to pay. As Steven said, they don’t want to set someone up to fail to pay, as that could bring even greater penalties which could affect their family.

The magistrates must be available 24 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days a year (extra on Leap Years!) If the police need a warrant, they may need it immediately, even in the middle of the night, and a magistrate has to listen to their reason for wanting it before deciding to grant one.

The causes of crime and the types of crime do change over time and require adaptability by the magistrates. During Covid, for instance, there was almost no burglary as everyone was at home!

By the way, magistrates do not get paid. They can claim a subsistence allowance - £7.45 for 4 to 8 hrs duty! If they are employed, their employer may pay them during their absence but it isn’t compulsory.

There were several amusing anecdotes involving interactions with the accused and other members of the public, but one stands out: upon meeting Susie in the street, one past ‘client’ said “Oh, you’re real!” as if the person they saw in court was some sort of simulacrum!

Thank you, Susie and Steven, for a very interesting afternoon. Now we know what we face if ever our turn comes up!


Earlier history meeting