A sticking-plaster policy for Britain’s strained courts
Magistrates get more power. Will they get punch-drunk on it?
IT HAS BEEN a long day in courtroom number 5 at Stratford Magistrates’ Court by the time Charlie Mendajami enters the dock. The trio of magistrates have presided over eight cases, including those of a pale teenager who admitted to sharing indecent images (he gets a 24-month community order and 200 hours of unpaid work); a man who attacked a noisy neighbour’s door with a hammer (£650, or $820, fine; hammer confiscated); and a serial offender who stole a bike and punched a stranger (five weeks in prison).
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Sticking-plaster policies”
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