Solving the HMCTS Legal Advisor Brain Drain

The Government is currently recruiting an additional 6,000 or so Magistrates in the hope it might help clear the backlog of around 300,000 outstanding Magistrates' Court cases.

In order to do the work they do, those 6,000 additional Magistrates need to be supported by professionally qualified Legal Advisors. Experience shows that HMCTS, for whatever reason, struggles to recruit and retain Legal Advisors.

A significant proportion of newly recruited Legal Advisors come from those who have completed the vocational stage of barrister training. I shall refer to these as new barrister Legal Advisors. Despite having been called to the Bar, these are not fully qualified barristers as they have not completed pupillage and are therefore unable to obtain a practising certificate from the Bar Standards Board. New barrister Legal Advisors are against the clock, as they only have five years to obtain pupillage in order become a fully-fledged practising barrister.

Every year there are far more individuals called to the Bar than there are pupillage places. Employment as a Magistrates' Court Legal Advisor can be a convenient stop gap for a budding new criminal barrister to sharpen their skills before successfully obtaining pupillage a couple of years down the line.

HMCTS does not offer pupillage in-house, so any new barrister Legal Advisor wishing to obtain pupillage has to apply elsewhere. This means the service is losing a significant number of new barrister Legal Advisors, as they cannot progress their careers at the Bar by remaining at HMCTS.

Off the top of my head I can immediately think of three new barrister Legal Advisors in this situation, each of them leaving HMCTS for pupillage within the next 6 months or so. They are all very bright, enthusiastic, capable individuals - the very people the service should be nurturing and helping to develop their careers. Sadly it just doesn't happen.

Moving forward it would be nice to see HMCTS come to some sort of arrangement with the Bar Standard Board that allows it to offer pupillage in-house to new barrister Legal Advisors. Doing so would improve retention, as they would not need to immediately look elsewhere for pupillage.

Ipswich Man Seriously Injured Toddler in Electric Unicycle Collision

An Ipswich man seriously injured a toddler when he rode into her whilst riding an electric unicycle.

Andrew Wickenden, 50, of Old Norwich Road, Ipswich, admitted the following offences at an earlier hearing:

• Causing serious injury by careless driving;
• Driving a motor vehicle without valid third-party insurance;
• Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

He was sentenced at Ipswich Magistrates' Court on Friday, 27th June 2025.

Magistrates heard that the collision took place on Sunday, 3rd November 2024, when Wickenden was riding his Begode electric unicycle along the promenade at Folkestone - an area used exclusively by pedestrians and cyclists that has no access to motor vehicles.

In common with electric scooters, it is not possible to obtain third-party insurance to cover the use of an electric unicycle. As such, they should only ever be used on private land. That said, anyone choosing to use an electric unicycle in a public place is subject to the same rules of the road as any other motor vehicle.

It was a nice afternoon and the prom was busy with pedestrians. Wickenden, who is clearly having some sort of midlife crisis, was seen weaving between the pedestrians and was playing music from a loudspeaker at the time.

CCTV footage captured the moment he rode into a two-year-old girl, causing her to crash to the ground in agony. The child was rushed to hospital by ambulance and later diagnosed with a fractured skull and bleed on the brain.

In a victim personal statement, the young girl's mother said: "After four hours of being monitored in A&E she was discharged but four hours later she woke up screaming in agony.

"To see my daughter in a situation I couldn't prevent was heartbreaking.

"No child let alone a two-year-old should have to go through that.

"The pain prevented her from doing anything she would usually do such as playing running or even laughing."

The mother noted that Wickenden seemed less concerned about the girl's injuries; more concerned about getting on his way.

Wickenden, a father-of-three, told the police that he was travelling at low speed - despite CCTV footage seemingly showing otherwise - and trying to keep next to the wall in order to minimise contact with pedestrians.

Addressing the court, he said: "I am devastated at the thought of this young girl sustaining an injury as a result of this incident and I have had sleepless nights thinking about it."

Magistrates were of the view that Wickenden's offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

He was sentenced to 14-weeks' custody suspended for 12 months, with the requirement that he completes 150 hours' unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £154 surcharge and £85 towards prosecution costs.

Wickenden was also disqualified from driving (or riding) for a period of 18 months.

Flintshire HGV Driver Loses Licence and Livelihood

A Flintshire HGV driver has lost both his licence and livelihood, having failed to persuade Magistrates that his circumstances amounted to exceptional hardship.

David Evans, 45, of Bryn Seion Lane, Sychdyn, Mold, admitted an offence of failing to identify the driver of a motor vehicle when he appeared at Wrexham Magistrates' Court on Friday, 27th June 2025.

Evans, an HGV driver, had initially denied the offence, so the matter had been listed for a pre-trial review. Hearing the strength of the prosecution's evidence, Evans decided to amend his plea to guilty. He then asked the court to consider an exceptional hardship application, as the conviction would leave him liable for disqualification under the totting up rule.

Unfortunately for Evans, he had made a previous exceptional hardship application as recently as November 2024. On that occasion, despite having accumulated 12 penalty points, the court allowed him to keep his licence on the basis that if disqualified he would lose his employment and be unable to contribute to his parents' household expenses.

At the November 2024 hearing it was made crystal clear to Evans that he could not advance the same exceptional hardship argument for the next three years. However, that's exactly what he tried to do at the 27th June hearing.

Addressing the court, Evans said "I'm an HGV driver. It will actually destroy me if I lose my licence. It will ruin me."

As Evans had no new circumstances for the court to consider, the court refused his application and proceeded to sentence him for the latest offence.

He was fined £519 and ordered to pay £208 surcharge and £130 towards prosecution costs.

Evans' licence was endorsed with 6 penalty points, taking the total to 18 and therefore resulting in a 6 month totting disqualification.

Addressing Evans, the Presiding Justice, Susanne Dickson JP, said: "We have every sympathy, but you've been around this loop before.

"Our hands are tied - there's really nothing we can do."

A dejected Evans left the courtroom.

There is no court in the land that wants to see a man lose his employment, particularly in the current economic climate. The court recognises that generally speaking people in work make a positive contribution to society and are far less likely to be out committing crimes.

However, the inescapable fact is that Evans, a professional driver, has been given ample warning about the standard of his driving previously. Despite acknowledging his own perilous situation, he simply hasn't heeded those warnings.

Having a driving licence is a privilege for those that comply with the rules, not a right for those that don't.

Manchester Man Sentenced for "Warming Chicken" in University Sauna

A Manchester man has been sentenced for "warming his chicken" in a university sauna.

Xin Zhang, 60, of Foundry Lane, Manchester, admitted an offence of outraging public decency when he appeared at Tameside Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 15th February 2024.

He was sentenced at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 24th June 2025.

Outraging public decency is an offence contrary to common law. It has a maximum sentence of 12 months' custody on summary conviction; life imprisonment on conviction on indictment.

A Newton hearing was required due to the differing accounts admitted by Zhang (that he was adjusting the lining of his shorts) and advanced by the Crown (that he was masturbating).

That hearing, which took place at Bolton Magistrates' Court on Monday, 3rd February 2025, concluded that the Crown's account was the correct one - e.g. that the 60-year-old had been dabbling in a spot of onanism.

Magistrates heard that Zhang, a Chinese national, had been a member of the Tom Husband Leisure Centre at the University of Salford for more than a decade. It was during one of his regular visits in March 2023 that he was observed touching his penis as he was staring at a women through the glass of the sauna.

Describing events in her statement, the woman said: "He stood up. He was looking at me. He pulled his pants down just below the knee. He grabbed his penis and I could see his hands they were going up and down. I thought 'oh my God'."

Zhang had initially told police that he was cold from swimming, so had put his hands down his shorts to "warm his chicken" - a phrase he later confirmed referred to his genitals. That account, however, was rejected by the Newton hearing.

Magistrates were of the view that Zhang's offence was serious enough to merit a community order.

He was sentenced to 12-month community order with the requirement that he completes 180 hours' unpaid work and up to 20 days' rehabilitation activity.

He was also ordered to pay £400 towards prosecution costs and £114 surcharge.