Anyone work in a Crown Court? Can you explain to me about how things work?

[RageAgainstTheNahCantBeArse]

Someone I know has been accused of a very serious crime. Their trial will be at the crown court. For personal (and entirely valid but too outing to explain - not just nosiness!) reasons I would like to follow the progress of the trial but won't be able to attend court. Is there anyway to find out when a trial will be held and follow the proceedings without actually being in court?

Thanks

You could phone the court office to find out about the date, although be aware that things can get adjourned. The only way to find out what's happening during and trial is if it's reported in the press. The courts themselves don't provide any sort of pubic reporting service for cases at Crown Court level.

You can view court registers online but they don’t give any details of the evidence just the proceedings. You’d either have to be present or see if the press report on it

Ok, thanks. An impossible situation then. I can't attend court as I am being harassed by someone who will be there in support of the defendant.

www.thelawpages.com/legal-directory/crown-courts.php

Depending on your connection with the case it might be worth having a word with the court office. They do have to deal with situations where families of the defendant and any alleged victims both want to watch the trial and need to be kept apart.

Thanks Muriel. I didn't know that. I think probably the best thing is to ring the court then and see what's what. I am actually a JP in the same district as the crown court (which means nothing in reference to the case - so I haven't mentioned it) but does mean I have a certain level of security-type clearance in reference to the court building (ie they can trust me not to be up to anything dodgy I guess!). I've emailed them but they haven't replied. It's a good taste of what it's like to be on the outside of the court system if nothing .

@OverByYer thanks for the link!

Do you have a friend who would be unknown to the defendant and their support that could attend and report back to you?

It's not going to be particularly pleasant listening I think and will probably be a few days so I don't think I can ask anyone else to do that unfortunately .

Ask them for the CVP link OP then you can watch the trial remotely. I cover many court cases this way since Covid struck. Or you could notify your local paper what the trial’s about and when it’s taking place and they may just go along and cover it.