A Day In Court



Court Reporting

The front of Woking Magistrates Court



Today we were given the opportunity to visit Woking Magistrates Court for some live action in court reporting. Ready and eager to flex our shorthand muscles and after turning up an hour early (thanks Joe!) we saw three different cases, ranging from drink driving charges to a more serious case on possession of indecent photos of children. As soon as we had a story we were given permission to leave, and after about an hour we did just that.

Here are my two stories of the day:

Vandals’ vengeance

Vandals have pleaded guilty to three charges of harassment and damage after seeking vengeance on a school caretaker, a court has heard.

Leon Garman, 26, of Bonsey Lane, Addlestone, and another defendant who cannot be named due to their age were charged with harassment and two counts of vandalism at Woking Magistrates Court on Thursday the 21^st of October. Mr Garman pleaded guilty to all charges.

The two defendants tried to lure caretaker Dillan Dirani out of his home by saying that the school he worked at was on fire. When Mr Dirani refused to open his door he was threatened and harassed, said Julien Hunt of the prosecution. Garman shouted: “My names not Andy its f***ing Leon, I’ll f***ing kill you,” “I would have set you on fire (if you came outside),” said Mr Hunt.

The defendants later returned to the house drunk and begun vandalising Mr Dirani’s BMW car with sandbags before damaging his front door, said Mr Hunt. Police identified Garman’s fingerprints on the car following investigation.

Garman’s defence attorney David Castle said that Mr Dirani had been sexually harassing Garman’s partner who worked as a teaching assistant at the school. He added that Mr Dirani attempted to engage in “sexual liaison,” and made “remarks about her figure.” She later resigned her position as a result of the harassment, said Mr Castle.

Garman was fined a total of £180, with a further £70 in fees to the court and a £15 surcharge, to be paid by the 4^th of November 2010.

Caught out: Possession of indecent photos of children

A defendant has been committed to Crown Court after denying 11 charges of possession of indecent photos of children, a court has heard.

Ian Henderson, 60, of Teazlewood Park, Leatherhead, has been charged with 11 offences relating to the possession of indecent photos of children at Woking Magistrates Court on Thursday, October 21.

Henderson pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been granted unconditional bail awaiting trial. The court session is set for November 19, 2010, at Guildford Crown Court, Surrey.

Nightlife In Farnham

Nightlife in Farnham: The Debate.

If I had a pound for every time I heard a second or third year complain about how dull they thought a night out in Farnham was... well I would probably be down the Jolly Sailor taking advantage of their £2.25 a pint of Cheapsberg instead of writing this review. It probably doesn’t help that I’m having the most boring Sunday night of MY LIFE after wandering up and down the high street trying to find a pub that could offer me and my mates a burger and a beer for under a 5er – in the end we settled for a Fosters top and some cheesy chips... god I miss Wetherspoons.

Indeed, a lot of the older lads must have run these pubs dry while moving through to their later years. Heck, after three weeks of fresher’s I’m starting to feel the same! But there are always opportunities to have a good laugh and a great night; you just need to be at the right place at the right time. The fresher’s pub guide in the late student magazine (soon to be started up again by my class) gave us the low-down on where to be and even provided a little map with colour-coded icons. Pubs like The Mulberry or William Cobbet do pretty excellent student nights with cheap beer and multi-buy offers, and on the other hand there will always be the ‘old man’ pubs that aren’t particularly student friendly (Yes, I’m thinking of you The Hop Blossom).

Then there are the mid-way bars like the infamous Slug and Lettuce, or even the Queens Head with its ridiculously welcoming candle lit wooden tables and warming open log fires, that aren’t actually reluctant to let us crowd up the gaff but just don’t have any cheap drinks or event nights, nor do they have many students (or even young people).

Price is another major factor in this topic. I mean, who in their right mind would spend £3.60 for a pint of lager at the Wheatsheaf when trying to juggle a tight budget courtesy of their massively late student loan (cheers student finance!) when the Mulberry is giving out Snakebites for two quid and a free shot of Apple Sours on entry? Now, it doesn’t get any easier when you have to move out of the student village after your first year, having to pay for bills ON TOP of rent and pushing your intoxicated body to its limits by walking miles away from the town centre (Farnham is deceptively big).

With that said, nightlife as a fresher was pretty sweet. We loved stumbling around in the dark in search of these pubs that are rather inconveniently placed as far away as possible from the University to hit the student nights, and the SU is normally open till about 2 AM on Thursdays and Fridays, just a few minutes’ walk from the halls. The only problem is though, that in Farnham, it’s got to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On any other night you might as well cut your losses, order a domino’s and get into bed. Contrary to the rest of the country, the weekends are rather lifeless.

All in all though, I’m yet to be convinced that the nightlife in Farnham is really as disastrous as many people think it is. My guess is that they’re just out of touch.

 For me and my friends, we’re still loving it.