Well the big day has arrived and you are as full of emotions as it is possible to get. All the preparation and work you have put in are going to be tested. Your allotted time and court number will be on the board for you to check up when you land. Unless of course you are coming from the remand prison, in which case you will be held in the court cells until the time. You will see your barrister before going into the court and in any case during the trial as it progresses.

One little point to mention which is not talked about in the media is the bargaining that is played out with you, just before going into the court. I was asked if I would plead guilty to a much lesser charge, I found that in my heightened sense of foreboding I actually thought about it! However, when I had time to think clearly and talk it over with my loved ones they made me see how twisted the system is.
In order to save the time and expense of a full jury style hearing they were trying to manipulate the system. The fact that I nearly gave in is so very clearly a sign that anyone of lesser fortitude than I, could have so easily been persuaded. In particular was the attitude of the judge, who let the horse-trading go on while he had another coffee!

If your case is going to take longer than the day you will be bailed by the judge to return in the morning unless he feels that you could do a "runner" in which case you would be held in the local holding prison. This does not happen very often, but if you were to show any discourtesy to his court the judge may take a dim view of it.

The prosecution outlines their case and then your barrister does your side of it. The prosecution and defence taking witnesses in order and cross-examining them as well normally follows this.

You get to go on the stand if you wish, should you not wish to the prosecution could play on it! However, although you will be able to tell your story, you are now leaving open the prosecution to question you. Once again I point to the fact that should there be no doubt in your mine of your innocence then giving your version of events should not cause too much concern.

With the final summing up by the defence, prosecution and judge the jury retire to reflect on what they have heard in court. Then you will know your fate.

You may get a no guilty verdict or guilty on some or all the charges. What ever happens, it is worth remembering that you can appeal if it is a bag of crap. In particular note that you can appeal both the result and the sentence as separate parts to the whole.

I was told not to appeal because of the wonderful summing up by the judge which was all to me, however we think he pushed the jury so hard they kicked me in the nuts for it.

I was not aware that I could appeal regardless of my barrister's recommendation until the time had passed for me to be able to.

So, if you wish to appeal do so, with this one warning, I was given the least sentence available to the judge without the prosecution appealing it. Should your appeal fail they could increase you sentence!

If you walk out of the court a free person take the system to the highest point you can for compensation, if everyone fought to obtain this it would bring the number of false convictions down, because the perpetrators of the actions would start to be fined and or imprisoned.