Crown court

What you will find on this page.

What does a Crown Court do?
How can I mentally prepare myself for appearing in Crown Court?
What will happen when I’m in Crown Court?
Meeting your barrister
Pleading not guilty in Crown Court
Pleading Guilty in Crown Court

What does a Crown Court do?

The Crown Court deals with serious criminal cases, such as GBH, Robbery, Murder etc, It can be an intimidating place, and it's here that you will experience the real drama and traditions of the UK court system.

If you’ve not been inside a Crown Court before it's wise to prepare yourself mentally.

How can I mentally prepare myself for appearing in Crown Court?

Whether you intend to plead guilty or not guilty, both can inevitably lead to imprisonment.

To avoid being a ‘rabbit in the headlights’ on day one of your case, we would highly recommend that you take time to visit the court and familiarise yourself with the process before your hearing.

You are allowed to visit Crown Courts and can sit in the public gallery of each court to watch another person's case at all different stages. This can be extremely beneficial as:

you will get to see how a trial operates
you can watch prosecutors and barristers in action
you will see someone giving evidence, and can prepare yourself mentally for what's ahead
if you're pleading guilty, you may be lucky and see a sentencing of a person with a similar offence to yours, helping you to understand what you're facing
having this knowledge can make you more confident in talking with your legal team.

What will happen when I’m in Crown Court?

One of the first things you are likely to notice is that a Crown Court is usually quite large, with a big entrance hall, café and balconies.

On arriving at court you will need to empty your pockets and pass a metal detector, before picking your stuff up on the other side.

You will need to attend an usher’s desk, and the usher will have information on your listing. If there is no usher available, a board or tv screen may be present, showing your name vs the crown, the court you're in, and the judge presiding.

Remember: Do not be late for your Crown Court appearance. It's advisable to wear smart clothes in court - a suit is a great effort but a shirt and trousers will do. Make sure your phone and all electronic equipment is turned off; there is nothing more embarrassing than your ringtone sounding while a judge is talking to you.

We have provided some links below If you would like to learn more about Judges and Barristers.

Crown Court Judges

Barristers

Meeting your barrister

When you have been appointed a barrister, or had one selected for you by your solicitor, you should ask about his / her background. Once you have this information, research online, see if you can find any cases or articles that they are known for. Many barristers are also prosecutors, while some only focus on criminal defence.

What will happen if I want to plead not guilty in Crown Court?

Receiving advice from your barrister

Your barrister will discuss your case in detail with your solicitor and will consult with you. Don’t be alarmed if the barrister only picked your case up and read the file for the first time upon meeting you, this happens a lot.

He or she will explain the strength of your case or discuss the weight of the prosecution evidence against you. They will offer advice based on how they believe a trial will go, or discuss your options.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

If you are facing a trial for a serious assault, would it be beneficial to have a barrister who has vast experience in defending these cases?
How many cases similar to yours have they been involved with?
What is the barrister’s win ratio?
If you have a barrister who loses a lot of cases would you feel confident in them representing you?

You must be prepared for your barrister to deliver difficult news. On reading the particulars of your case, however it has happened, you may be advised to not have a trial as the weight of evidence against you would, in their opinion, inevitably result in you being found guilty. In short, he/she is basically advising you to plead guilty.

If this happens you will probably feel as if your whole world has flipped upside down. You may experience immediate anxiety or feelings of fight or flight, but don’t feel too scared to question the opinion and evidence and ask them why they have come to that decision.

If you do decide to take the barrister's advice and plead guilty, be aware that you could be sentenced that very day.

More positively, your barrister may recommend a not guilty plea, believing that your case should go to trial. If this happens then you may be offered a plea bargain at a nearer point towards your trial from the prosecution to persuade you otherwise, Prosecutions if they feel you have a chance at winning your case will tempt you with a deal, in which case it's up to you what you do.

Pleading not guilty in Crown Court

On entering the court you will be ushered into a dock, where you will sit until you hear ‘All rise’.

Remember: It's important you stand for the judge and wait to be told ‘Be seated’. The judge will talk and you will be called by the clerk to confirm your name and address; again, if seated, stand up and politely confirm these details.

You will be called by the clerk to enter your plea. Again, stand and wait for the clerk to state the offence and your name and ask you, ‘Do you plead guilty or not guilty?’. Your barrister may turn to you and reconfirm not guilty. At this point in proceedings you will enter your plea.

From this point on it's a matter of scheduling your trial, and you will sit and listen to details of the process: pre-trial hearing; trial dates, and lastly, the question of bail.

Don’t be alarmed if, all of a sudden, the prosecution request you be remanded; it’s beneficial for them that you are in prison whilst the case is ongoing, but in many cases if you walked into the court via the main entrance then, unless you have breached a condition or been in contempt of court, you will leave that way.

It’s difficult to offer a detailed list of all the following steps in the Crown Court process as everybody’s circumstances are different, but if you want to know more follow the below link

Crown Court trial Part 1 - Trial Essentials — Defence-Barrister.co.uk

Pleading Guilty in Crown Court

Your barrister should discuss in more detail what's ahead and the mitigating factors to aid your defense. She / he will also discuss the aggravating factors and explain what you are facing in more detail

Once you enter the court you will be placed in a dock. You may see your defence barrister laugh and joke with the prosecutor, before hearing, ‘All rise’.

Once this is done, the prosecutor may go first and state the offence and aggravating factors against you. You may instantly dislike this verbal account of yourself and become angry or panic due to the way you are being described; you may even look toward the door and consider fleeing from the dock, you wouldn't be the first.

Don’t! Stay calm and do not show anger or shout out; this would only result in you being warned or even to be held in contempt of court . It's in the prosecution's interest to make you sound as criminal as possible – don’t help them by making their job easier!

Your defence will counter and discuss your mitigating circumstances. This can help alleviate any feelings stirred by the prosecution and you may feel more hopeful of a fairer sentence. The judge is experienced enough to understand the particulars of both accounts spoken of you, and may decide your sentence there and then. Alternatively, they may retire to decide your fate and circumstances before returning to pass sentence.

Remember: If found guilty by jury, the judge, if retiring, may request you be detained in the custody cells until a decision is reached. Please be assured that this doesn’t mean you’re going to be given a prison sentence.

The court will ask for a Pre-Sentence Report when it wants to know and understand more about you, so it can decide what sentence would be most appropriate given the crime you have committed. This report helps the court to look at the bigger picture.

Remember we are always here to help, do contact us if you have any queries or existing fears of imprisonment.