Christ’s Hospital Court Hearing - Law workshop with barrister Tommy Seagull
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Christ’s Hospital welcomed back criminal barrister Tommy Seagull on the 27th of March to lead an afternoon workshop with senior students.
The main focus of the workshop was on to build up the skills necessary to work in the field of law and eventually write up a bail application for a defendant in a given scenario.
The session began with an introduction to Mr Seagull himself, before he answered questions about entering the world of law, including pathways, qualifications, and the attributes associated with working in law.
Following the Q&A, students were introduced to bail applications — their uses and exceptions, under the Bail Act 1976. Bail applications are delivered by both the defence counsel and the prosecutor to give reasons and conditions for a defendant to be released on bail until their court hearing.
After an intermission for dinner, which involved some students eating with Mr Seagull, which some attendees found to be a highlight, everyone reconvened to plan and write up their bail applications.
The scenario given was a man who had been charged with the grievous bodily harm of a fellow university student at a nightclub.
More information, including the defendant's previous convictions, his reasons for attacking the complainant and the location of his family home helped to build a profile of the defendant and determine the bail conditions best suited to his needs.
Each team presented their conditions for the defendant's bail application before the group, having chosen whether to prosecute or defend the individual.
Some groups decided on very creative strategies, such as relocating the defendant to his family home, providing escorts to and from lectures, and imposing a curfew.
Amelia, who attended the workshop, said that she found it ‘very informative and useful’ and that it ‘opened her mind to different opportunities in the future.’
She also mentioned that the event developed skills useful to life, not just law, such as putting an argument into writing and deciphering between useful and less useful evidence.
Elsie, another attendee, advised that ‘if you have the opportunity to go to something like this, just go because even if it doesn’t make you want to do the job, it still help you decide whether you want to do it or not.’
The workshop provided valuable information to the students of Christ’s Hospital, that in the words of the attendee Mason, ‘showed the good, bad and ugly in a career as a barrister […] it is a really difficult yet rewarding profession to go into.’
