This week I've been attending a Crown Court trial in the public gallery. To say my eyes have been opened in several ways is a total understatement.
Firstly I was stunned by the level of security. I expected a bag search and metal detector but I got confused about the drink I had in my bag. I thought the man had asked me to throw it away so I said, 'No, problem. Where's the bin?' This created some concern and the man repeated himself. He didn't want me to throw it away. He wanted to see me drink from the bottle. Apparently it's to make sure that the bottle doesn't contain acid. All courts share news of what incidents have occurred then they all set protections in place.
They patrol the public areas all the time and have CCTV. They also have to be careful that fire hoses can't be used as weapons, either to strangle or hit with.
All cutlery in the cafe is really soft wood that bends when you use it. This is to stop them being used as stabbing weapons.
We got chatting to a family who seemed very pleasant and, to be honest, they remained very pleasant with us. It turns out they're incredibly violent and well known in the Court.
One of the security guards told me that I was the most innocent person in the ways of the world that he had ever met.
The case I was at was very unpleasant as it involved a sexual offence against a child. We went because we had reported this person to the police in 2017. The police took us seriously but they passed it on to Social Services who dismissed as liars. They said that DH was being a vindictive man who was trying to cause trouble and told him that if he continued with his allegations they (social services) would make sure that he never saw his children again. He couldn't take that risk so he let it go and we watched helplessly but the man seemed to stop (although we thought that he probably hadn't.) Our hands were tied. We'd given over all the evidence that we had and it had not only been dismissed but had come with a threat. Sadly this had given the person the opportunity to continue to offend. Fortunately, this time, the case was taken seriously and the creature was found guilty by every member of the jury.
What has opened my eyes about this? It's how many people in the family still refuse to believe that he has done anything wrong. They say that it was all a mistake or a miscarriage of justice. We were in the court room. We heard the evidence and know what he did. They weren't there. They just want to brush it under the carpet and forget it happened. We've argued that this man potentially poses a threat to the children of the family, in the hope that they would at least be concerned about their own but no one seems to want to know. Apparently we're just being nasty. So we've told them that if anything else ever happens then it's on their heads.
We thought that once he'd been found guilty, people would see that we were right but sadly we're still the bad guys.
