Budding barristers get on the case ahead of school law competition

A team of budding barristers from One are preparing to take part in a national event called the Bar Mock Trial Competition.

The event – that is run by Young Citizens – challenges 15 to 18 year old students from across the UK to pit their legal wits against other wannabe lawyers from local schools.

This particular group from One will be travelling to Ipswich Crown Court on Saturday 2 November 2019.

If successful in this regional heat, the team will be invited to the Old Bailey in London next year where they will go up against the winners of the 23 other regional heats in a competition that originally started back in 1991.

Ruth Parr is a history teacher at One and is supporting the students in the run up to this event.  She said, “Whilst we don’t teach A Level Law at One, many of our students are considering studying law in the future. Therefore, we thought that this would be a great chance for them to get a flavour of this industry, to help determine whether or not this is the career for them.”

17 year old Zainab Abid from Ipswich, said, “I got involved as I want to be a solicitor in the future. We don’t know who we are up against but we are ready. This is a perfect opportunity for me to see if this is the career for me.”

18 year old Lucy Giarnese from Ipswich, said, “I want to represent people who need support and I hope this will help my confidence as I want to study law after One. I’m excited by this as it will be a real window into the criminal justice system in this country.”

17 year old Anna Becker from Ipswich, said, “We have prepared well but anything can happen – just like it can in a real court case. I’m excited by the challenge.

18 year old Joseph Most, said, “It’s been enjoyable working as a team and we’ve worked hard - so it would be a pat in the back to win this.”

The team will also include a student from One who will be sketching the events in their role as a court artist.