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The Central Criminal Court may pride itself on delivering the highest standards of justice in the country, but unfortunately after this reporter's experience yesterday the same cannot be said of how it treats visitors to the landmark building.
Arriving at the Old Bailey in the City without my press card - never again - I was refused entry and had no option, but to cover the case I was there for from the public gallery.
So the nightmare begins.
I now had a first-hand take on how most visitors' trip to the most famous courthouse in the world is spoilt by obstruction, arrogance, petty rules, lack of respect, threats, contempt and an overwhelming culture that the public are a complete nuisance.
Make no mistake, the viewing gallery is there for the convenience of the staff, who make no effort whatsoever to assist visitors or even allow them basic human comforts although the facilities exist to ease what for some can be an emotional and traumatic experience.
Firstly, if you plan to attend a case bring no personal belongings with you whatsoever, because any item could potentially be used as an excuse to deny entry - the overwhelming aim of the unhelpful staff.
So that means no bags, phones, laptops, umbrellas, cameras's, calculators etc.
The Old Bailey has a zero tolerance policy to looking after such items while you are in court - they will not do it.
However, the biggest scandal of all is obvious once you eventually gain entry and find that the staff have turned the staircase - a glorified fire escape - into a waiting room because they do not want to share their personal space with the public.
Therefore you have the shocking spectacle of people sitting on steps and standing on tiny landings as they look through glass doors at a larger approximately 180 sq. foot room occupied by a single member of staff sitting comfortably on a seat.
What of Health and Safety?
Doubtless the staff would use those regulations in their favour if they wanted to deny somebody access or move them on, but a mass of people standing on a staircase is an accident waiting to happen.
I voiced my concerns while standing on the cramped sweltering landing for over an hour after a party of people were ordered back onto the staircase when they tried to go into Court Seven when the case was called over the speaker.
"Ah. They don't want you going in," I told them. "They are are certainly not here to help members of the public."
A complaint was immediately made by one of the security team to a manger, who took me to a private room, where I was warned any more outbursts would be met with a banning order from the Old Bailey.
I still wanted to cover the case I was there for so I said nothing and my ordeal was over approximately ten minutes later when the hearing concluded.
I hope this helps people prepare for any potential visit they are planning to make to the building, which I heard recently was the subject of a multi-million pound bid by a hotel chain.
Turn the Central Criminal Court into a hotel?
Not a bad idea, but a warning to potential investors: Do not hire any of the current staff if you want any customers returning.
Very interested to read your experience. I am a student on the Bar Professional Training Course in Bloomsbury and have been recommended by lecturers to attend hearings for experience. Not sure I fancy going now though after reading your report. I would be travelling up from Bristol specifically, so would obviously have my bag, purse, phone, etc with me. What are you supposed to do with them? Leave them outside on the pavement for people to steal? Sounds ridiculous. I have attended cases at Bristol and Cardiff Crown Court and they don't have these ridiculous bars.
ReplyDeleteI returned more recently and knowing I'd have to access the dreaded public gallery left my mobile phone elsewhere. Fortunately for the security staff I had my laptop with me so they could refuse entry on those grounds. They were jubilant. When I asked for a reason for refusal they said (despite x-raying the laptop) that it could have a bomb in it. Nothing changes in the fiefdom that is the Old Bailey public gallery. They are a law unto themselves.
ReplyDeleteI have just read your posts and am shocked and disgusted by what you have said and that a journalist can be so ignorant and use their privileged position to unfairly criticise a highly professional workforce, who do an extremely important job, extremely well.
ReplyDeleteThe principle purpose of The Old Bailey is as a high security court, that specialise in murder and terrorism trials. As such, the building and persons within are at genuine risk of attack by terrorist or criminal acts.
In view of the recent terrorist attacks in London, at London Bridge, Borough Market, Westminster Bridge and outside Parliament, do you still endorse your posts? Do you remember the 'shoe bomber' who smuggled explosives aboard a passenger aircraft in the hollow heel of his shoe? This is why WE ALL have to go through rigorous security screening checks at airports before flying.
The security staff at the Old Bailey are highly trained, highly professional and follow strict procedures designed to protect the safety and lives of all persons who enter the building.
The security staff at the Old Bailey are not there to bend rules, for the convenience of people who forget to bring their professional identification and are therefore subject to rigorous rules and checks; in case they may not be who they say they are, or may be a terrorist, or otherwise wish to disrupt court proceedings.
30 January 2023
Mobile phones, laptops etc are not allowed in the public gallery because their users would be bound to operate them and disrupt the court proceedings.
ReplyDeleteThe strict rules about where people may wait and areas that they may not be permitted to enter are NOT for the convenience of the security staff, but to protect persons connected to the case, who may be attending the public gallery to view the trial. In a murder trial, there may be friends and relatives of the murdered person and friends, associates or relatives of the accused person/s who are standing trial, present within a small confined area. Can you work out why the highly professional security staff go to such great lengths to keep opposing factions apart?
The way that the British Justice System works, is that anyone is entitled to attend to view most court procedures, as long as they follow the rules that are in place to protect all attendees. It is important for law students to attend as part of their training and familiarisation but they should note that they will NOT be allowed to take in bags, mobile phones, laptops or other devices. As such items cannot be brought in for security reasons, then it should be obvious why they cannot be 'looked after' by the staff, as they are not allowed to be brought into the premises.
I hope that you may leave these messages on your blog, to counter your obvious bias, but I suspect that you will delete them, as a result of the arrogance and ignorance that you have displayed in your original posts.
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to delete it out of embarrassment, then have the decency to delete your original posts too. They are factually incorrect and only serve to showcase your professionalism and arrogance.
The kindest thing that I can think to say, is that you failed the intelligence test in forgetting to take your Official ID and no doubt then failed in your arrogant attitude when demanding special treatment from security staff, who have no option but to follow the very strict procedures that they are there to enforce.
The Old Bailey is managed by the City Of London Corporation. If you are daft enough to believe that you have a genuine cause for complaint about the way in which you say you were treated by the security staff, then follow the complaints procedure on The City Of London Corporation website, so that they may investigate and formally respond.
Don't use your privileged position to unjustly attack a highly professional team, who do deliver excellent Customer Service to those people who they are able to assist.
I note that your posts were made ten years ago, so perhaps you have matured since then, to become a responsible professional journalist, who reports the facts, without injecting poisonous comments and trying to spin facts to cover for their own inadequacies.
But, if this were the case, wouldn't you have taken down your petulant posts?