Bar Mock Trial

December 18, 2025/in Bar Mock Trial /by Presdales School

On Saturday 6th December, a group of Year 12 students went to the University of Hertfordshire to take part in the annual Bar Mock Trial Competition. The competition is designed to replicate what a real court case might look like and to give students not only to develop their oracy skills but also their critical thinking skills and their understanding of the legal system. The process began in October when we audition for the roles of barrister, witness, court clerk and usher. Once successful, defence and prosecution teams were formed and criminal cases were assigned. We then spent weeks preparing speeches, statements, questions and getting to know our roles. When the day of the competition arrived, we were ready to face other schools in the court room over three trials, with some students even having the opportunity to act as jury members for other teams. Once all the teams had finished competing, we had the opportunity to listen to the judges share their personal career journeys and experiences within the legal profession. This showed us that not everyone’s career path is the same; in fact, many of them began in completely different fields. My personal experience of Bar Mock Trial as a defence barrister was extremely enlightening, as it taught me the challenging yet rewarding skills required to pursue a career as a barrister. I had to write and present an opening speech to a real-life judge and other members of the court, before questioning two witnesses. This competition helped me to develop many valuable skills, including communication, confidence and time management. All of the students who participated performed incredibly well, with one student being singled out by a judge for being the best performing barrister he had seen that day. The teachers who organised and supported us throughout the process were brilliant. Ms Durant organised the competition and set up weekly after-school meetings to support us in every way she could. We were also supported by Mr Spurgeon, a retired Presdales Politics and History teacher, who came in to help us due to his many years of experience running the competition. Overall, I would highly recommend Bar Mock Trial to any student who is interested in taking part in the future. It provided a genuine insight into what a career in law could look like, and even for those who are not considering law, it helps to develop many essential skills for the future.

Autumn Smart

Bar Mock Trial 2024

Last Saturday (7th December), as the forces of nature were doing all they could, outside, to destroy the country, the forces of justice, in the form of several Bar Mock Trial teams, were doing their best, inside, at the University of Hertfordshire at Hatfield, to make the country a better place.

Fifteen members of Presdales Year 12 (names below) were using logic, evidence and their considerable powers of persuasion to either convict or acquit:

Leigh Hinton (a security guard) charged with assault causing actual bodily harm and Vim Speed (a professional track cyclist) charged with possession of a Class B controlled substance

Faced with considerable opposition in this roleplay from schools from all over outer-London, and from 6th Form Colleges able to select from up to 1,000 students (versus our c.135 per year group) the Presdales team did brilliantly, in F1 parlance, to “podium” – coming in a superb 3rd place. All the participants deserve huge congratulations!

Group 1: Dee Cole, Martha Ker, Jacob Colligan, Alice Lynn and Emily Lock

Group 2: Cynthia Kasonde, Amelia Johnson-Hart, Charlotte Appleford, Martha Brown and Jess Collins

Group 3: Imogen Warhurst, Sai Siddantham, Sophie Carter, Neive Reid and Olivia Karahasan

Bar Mock Trial

December 20, 2023/in Bar Mock Trial, General News, Trips & Visits /by Presdales School

At Presdales, all Year 12 students are given the opportunity to take part in Bar Mock Trial, a competition in which schools compete head to head to enact a mock criminal case. There are several performance roles on offer, including barristers, witnesses, court clerks and ushers, which accurately portray the legal procedures of a Crown Court.

Beginning in September, those Year 12s who were interested in taking part in Bar Mock Trial, auditioned and our team was assembled. These consisted of 3 groups:

– Maja Pickering and Esmé Sabin (barristers), Emily Shaw and Olivia Whyley (witnesses), and Ava Leret (usher/court clerk) – Lilian Simmonds and Yasmin Lum (barristers), Poppy Friedner and Chloe Milson (witnesses) and Hannah Gaudio (usher) – Anna-Lilja Tholozan and Jess Grizenkova (barristers), Sophie Gibbons and Tara Ogunsola (witnesses) and Tinaye Dzapasi (court clerk)

After rehearsing weekly for several months, including two trips to the law court in the University of Hertfordshire at Hatfield, the day finally came and on the second of December we made our way to Snaresbrook Crown Court in London.

There were 18 participating schools in our regional heat, one of the biggest in the country. Despite the pressure, our hard work paid off. In each of the three rounds, our three groups competed against opposing schools, showcasing their legal proficiency and performance abilities. The results were even better than we could’ve hoped for – every group within our overall team emerged victorious against their respective rival school.

As the competition progressed, it became evident that our collective effort was making a significant impact. The tension reached its peak when the final scores were tallied, and we discovered that we had amassed the highest number of points our school has ever achieved in the regional heats. It was a testament to the dedication and resilience of each participant. Three members of our team even managed to attain full marks in elements of their respective roles: an achievement which, according to Mr Spurgeon, is, ‘unheard of’.

However, the journey had one more twist. Despite the remarkable tally, we secured a close runners-up spot, narrowly losing to London-based Brampton Manor Academy by a mere three points! While the disappointment of falling short of the top spot lingered, we were still incredibly proud of our achievement.

In the end, the Bar Mock Trial competition proved to be a day of triumph, showcasing our school’s commitment to excellence in extracurricular activities. The experience not only enhanced our understanding of courtroom procedures but also instilled a sense of camaraderie and achievement among our participants, with some students forming friendships with other competitors. As we reflect on this memorable journey, we celebrate the hard work, determination, and success that define our Bar Mock Trial teams. We would also like to take the time to thank the dedication of Mr Spurgeon, who runs Bar Mock Trial at Presdales, and who willingly gave up his free time in order to support us and ensure we were confident and secure in our roles.

Esme Sabin & Maja Pickering

Bar Mock Trial 2023

March 31, 2023/in Bar Mock Trial, Events, General News /by Presdales School

On Saturday 25th March the Royal Courts of Justice in London made space between the celebrity squabbling of Prince Harry, Elton John and the Daily Mail to host the National Finals of the Bar Mock Trial for this year.

Presdales, as winners of the Outer London heats, was represented by a team of Year 12 students: Adesola Jinadu-Adewale, Zoe Drewitt, Evelyn Youngman, Callum Tredgett, Matilda Endersbee, Jasmine Kelly, Rebecca Mansford, Ruby O’Neill, Seren Miller, Kim Pittaccio, Francesca Caira and Yu Qiong Chen who took it in turns to go head-to-head with other school teams from all over the UK (including from Scotland, Wales and N Ireland and numbering 22 schools in total) over 3 separate rounds.

After Round 1 we were all ready to go home, having come up against a highly talented side from the Wirral Grammar School for Girls, who later went on to be the eventual winners. But Round 2 and Round 3 saw spirited performances by Presdales “seeing off” lesser opposition in the shape of schools from Huddersfield and Norwich.

The ultimate team trophy still eludes us but we didn’t come away empty-handed as Evelyn Youngman won an individual award for “best defence witness”, awarded by none other than Sir Brian Leveson (High Court Judge of Leveson Inquiry fame).

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: Reviewed by Lucy White

: Reviewed by Constantina Nichola

Bar Mock Trial 2022-2023

December 9, 2022/in Bar Mock Trial /by Presdales School

On Saturday 26th November the Year 12 Bar Mock Trial team was at Snaresbrook Crown Court competing in the Outer London regional heat of the Bar Mock Trial. After a long and exciting day the team ran out winners of the heat and have now qualified for the national finals where they will compete against schools from all round the UK at the Royal Courts of Justice in London at the end of March.

The members of the team are: Adesola, Sophie, Francesca, Yu Qiong, Zoe, Matilda, Jasmine, Rebecca, Seren, Ruby, Kim, Calum, Evelyn

Bar Mock Trial 2021-2022

March 18, 2022/in Bar Mock Trial, Trips & Visits /by Presdales School

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: Reviewed by Lucy White

: Reviewed by Constantina Nichola

Success this year in the Bar Mock Trial was that it went ahead! Just about.

We were unable to defend our title as ‘Outer London Heat Winners’ as Snaresbrook Crown Court (like most of the Crown Courts in the country) was unavailable for use because of the huge backlog of cases the justice system is still trying to process after Covid.

Instead, on March 1st, we were (i) thrown together into a ragbag “Cambridge consortium” with schools from all around the South East of England and (ii) required to perform virtually in a Zoom meet, which seriously tested Mr Spurgeon’s computer skills.

The teams did brilliantly with excellent performances from witnesses facing intense (and occasionally bizarre) cross-examination, barristers giving powerful opening and closing speeches and ushers & clerks dealing expertly with court admin. Despite the judging at times leaving a little to be desired, the defence teams, amid great celebration, successfully secured the acquittal of both our defendants.

Well done to all who took part and kept up their enthusiasm for the cases over the long time period we had to wait from September to March. Also as a group we would like to officially thank the University of Hertfordshire Law Faculty for allowing us to dress up and use their courtroom (which has apparently appeared several times in court scenes in ‘Eastenders’) to practise in, and to the Head for helping us fund the trip.

Bar Mock Trial 2021

May 28, 2021/in Bar Mock Trial /by Presdales School

Despite Covid, despite lockdown and despite the usual heavy workload of year 12, the Bar Mock Trial group have kept meeting doggedly throughout the past year. In September we conducted auditions to select our barristers and witnesses, who would be appearing in the trial, and by October half term we had three groups who were working hard for the regional heats after Christmas:

Team 1: Charlie-Lee Hopkins, Oyin Adewale, Amelia Botting, Azaria Gayle and Amelie Wisniewska-Sadok

Team 2: David Grice, Libby Mardell-Lines, Maddie Hunter, Myfamwy Harlow and Jake Yilmaz

Team 3: Emily Mayes, Iona Dixon, Becky Kennard, Nyah Lythall and Libby Robertson

In the New Year, as we all know, the plug was pulled and both regional heats and national finals disappeared from the calendar. When we returned from lockdown, however, meetings resumed and soon we had been paired with the Boclair Academy from Scotland to go head to head with a partner school, remotely, on Saturday 15th May. Sadly Boclair had to withdraw at the last minute (because of the pressures of exam grading!) but we went ahead ourselves anyway, furnishing both prosecution and defence, in the presence of our local legal consultant Ash Hornby (an ex-Met Police Detective) who was fulsome in his praise of the standard of the performance.

The court case? Well, Sunny Peters (Maddie Hunter) was charged with causing criminal damage at a “Save Our Climate” demonstration at Juraxis Energy. She smashed the car window of a security guard Nav Hayer (Nyah Lythall) with her placard. The prosecution were able to argue that she had no ‘legal excuse’ and the jury found her guilty as charged despite the character witness of her best friend, Jaylen Adiche (Myfamwy Harlow) and the best efforts of her defence team. She is currently awaiting sentence.

Congratulations to all who took part – an excellent team effort!

Mr Spurgeon

Bar Mock Trial, Snaresbrook Crown Court

December 17, 2019/in Bar Mock Trial, General News, Trips & Visits /by Presdales School

“Oh my word. We can’t have done it again, surely?” was the thought running through Miss Catterall’s and Mr Spurgeon’s heads as the lady from the Bar Mock Trial competition read out the names of the two schools who had made it through to the final of the Outer London heat.

This was 2pm Saturday 23rd November and we were in the familiar surroundings once again of the Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Tired from an early start, the team kicked into action in the euphoria of the news, rushed to collect bags and belongings from our allotted station and assembled outside Courtroom A. We were to face Heathcote School, Chelmsford in the final.

A coin was tossed. Safia called correctly and “yes, thank you, we would like to be the defence counsel”. In we piled. Safia presented her eloquent opening speech in true barristerial style, Maddie and Meena submitted their evidence to the jury under intense cross-examination and Talitha summed up brilliantly. Mila’s officiating as court usher was at the same excellent standard as the rest of the team, but had we done enough? (The tension was getting too much for some.)

The judge deliberated for what seemed an eternity, complemented all the participants on an excellent contest and finally announced that ………………Presdales had won!! (cheers) ….by one point 74-73 ! (gasps)

Next stop: the National Final on 21st March

Venue: The Old Bailey in London.

A reward well-deserved.