My Dad has worked for the police since I was about seven and has always had to go off to court so naturally this was something I was interested in. Perhaps fortunately, I have never had to visit a court myself so have never seen a court case or hearing in action, I only had what I had seen on TV to go from. So off we go to the Old Bailey in London- if we're going to do this we might as well do it properly- to see what we could see. I don't know what I imagined but the building was huge. You're not allowed to bring your phones,(fortunately my Dad was able to leave them in the Police Room). He met a lovely policeman called Kevin who said he would show us around later. We went through security into the gallery of court 16 and looked down upon a court case for "wounding with intent". The victim was in the witness box explaining his story and the defendant was in the “dock”.The Prosecution Barrister first questioned the victim, allowing him to give his version of events. This was followed by the Defence Barrister cross – examining him. He challenged the victim regarding the street number that the attack happened outside. He had estimated number 100 but it was argued that he should have known the numbers on that side of the street were all odd, as he had lived there so long. This appeared to be a weak attempt to undermine the victim. The victim was very articulate and to the point at explaining his account , which was very impressive. The case was then halted for lunch and we went to look around the building. There are two parts to the building, old and new, with the entrance to the public gallery that we visited, for the old part, being on Newgate street. This building contains Number One Court which has witnessed some of the most notorious defendants in history. We visit this court later with Kevin but start our journey walking down one of the large staircases. In the wall, very high up, is a chunk of glass left over from the building being hit by an IRA attack in 1973, just a somewhat quirky fact. We continue to a large room full of marble and high dome ceilings with beautiful paintings. The paintings had to be redone after the damage to the building and if you look closely you might be able to see the face of the artist (Gerald Moira) in them. Kevin explained that lots of sayings that we have today could have generated from events in history at the Old Bailey. For example, being "pressed for answers" could have come from those people tortured by pressing to try and get them to reveal information. The phrase "hanger on" could have come from when someone was hung the family involved could go underneath and hang on the legs of the person to speed up the death process, and as politically incorrect as it may be now the phrase "black as Newgate's knocker" comes from the original knocker at Newgate which when you touched would make your hands black- they still use it sometimes today. We went down stairs to look at an original (now unused)cell- they were tiny! And we also saw part of the original City of London fortified wall(known as a Bailey) ! We of course visited the famous Number One Court and had a look inside. It was kind of cool if not a little eerie and perhaps morbid, to see the steps down where all the notorious villains of the past had stepped and the dock where they once stood. Another quirky fact is that there is a room directly underneath the Lady Justice figure that tops the building where the Lord Mayor and officials carryout their secret business, one of the only rooms that Kevin can't access. I had a lot of fun learning the secrets of the building and urge anyone to go and have a look at a court case- it's not like how it is on TV! Just remember if you go to the Old Bailey leave you phone at home (or take my dad) and have the ability to sit still and quietly!
