On the 2nd December, a team from Wilson's School participated in the Young Citizens Bar Mock Trials competition at Snaresbrook Crown Court, arguing in three cases, each of which we had prepared a series of speeches and witness examinations for in the preceding weeks.

First, the defence counsel, led by Partha and Jack (Year Twelve) argued for the defendant in a case of computer misuse. The prosecution relied on proving that the defendant was guilty of using a computer without authorisation. However, the defence was successful in convincing the jury that they had acted with reasonable cause, securing a verdict of not guilty.

Our team was warmly praised by the adjudicators in our second case, who enjoyed the convincing characters portrayed by Ethan and Zach (Year Eleven), and their ability to divert the attention of the jury. The judges also praised the lines of questioning used by the defence in the cross examinations, convincing one of the witnesses for the prosecution that the defence had committed no crime.

In the final case, the prosecution counsel, led by Evan and Minhyuk (Year Twelve) argued in the same case of computer misuse which the defence counsel had successfully defended that morning. However, the prosecution was able to focus the attention of the jury on the onus to prove that the defendant had acted without authorisation, and had destroyed copyrighted material, which the defendant admitted in the court, helping us to secure a verdict of guilty.

The entire experience was a wonderful learning opportunity to reflect upon and an extremely enjoyable competition, which we hope to participate in again. Many thanks to Mrs Webber, both for supporting us in our preparation for the competition and for spending her Saturday with us at Snaresbrook!

Evan, Year Twelve