As a journalist you are fortunate enough to experience new things every day. Today we had the opportunity to go and sit in court cases which were being held at the Magistrates Court. 99% of the cases start here, and then proceed onto Crown Court if necessary. The scale of the crime can vary, today we had someone who had stolen items from Boots and Primark and was having to pay a fine of £50, in comparison to a man who was only 19 and had 92 other previous convictions.


You have a faint idea of what courts going to be like, if you haven't experienced it before, from the countless soap episodes and the recent court cases over the Michael Jackson trial. It was what I expected but also so surreal at the same time. I thought it would be a lot bigger... being so close to the culprit was quite scary at times with the glare of evil in their eyes.


With the continuous cases coming one after the other, hearing people's stories and reasons, maybe excuses of why they committed that crime really did put your life into perspective. Clearly they have broken the law for a reason, whether this was for the attention they lost, a cry for help, or simply just been bought up that way by their parents.


Sat there with our note pads and looking cleanly polished, we must be the defendants best friend. Educated, hygienic, having a substantial amount of money and on the right side of the law, with 12 sets of eyes on one individual that's got to be difficult. It just makes you think that although we have our down days and sometimes we hate ourselves, there is always someone who is worse off than you.