You Be the Judge

Public asked to judge court cases for themselves

People in Kent are being given the chance to judge and pass sentence on three real-life court cases.

It's to give people the opportunity to understand the criminal justice system and how punishments and sentencing work.

the 'You Be the Judge' section on The Kent Criminal Justice Board website allows users to watch videos of trials in court and then choose an appropriate punishment.

They can then see if their sentence matches the one handed down by the judge or magistrate and also how it compares to other peoples' votes.

The cases to judge are:

  • A 26 year old man with two previous convictions, who pleads not guilty to a burglary charge at Crown Court following a late-night break in at the home of a young couple and their baby.

  •  A 35-year-old drug addict, with no previous convictions, who pleads guilty at Crown Court to robbing a young woman at knifepoint to feed his habit, as she walked home late at night.
  • A 19-year-old, again with no previous convictions, who pleads guilty at magistrates court to using threatening behaviour towards an elderly woman who remonstrated with him about him playing football with his mates outside her home