Thread by @kirkkorner

Three Sarah Everard vigil attendees have been convicted and fined after a Met Police prosecution

The defendants were convicted in a behind-closed-doors hearing last week, and each given a £220 fine, £100 in costs, and a £34 victim surcharge.
standard.co.uk/news/crime/sar…

The evidence from Scotland Yard which was used to support the prosecutions is set out in full here:

https://twitter.com/kirkkorner/status/1534170870037598208

The court said no pleas or submissions were received from these three defendants and they were convicted by a single magistrate.

One defendant was unaware she was being prosecuted (via the Single Justice Procedure): "The first I hear of this charge is via the media"

A 2nd defendant was written to at his Manchester home about the prosecution, but not at an Enfield address which police know he's linked to

Criminal charges were authorised by a Met sergeant on Mar 31, 2022, after the High Court found the force had misused Covid laws when blocking a planned vigil for Sarah Everard

The legal basis for these prosecutions will be tested in a 4th case where a not guilty plea was entered

It's taken a week to determine what happened in the court hearings which were conducted in private.

It's likely we'll never know why the magistrate decided to convict, what they made of the police evidence, and why they decided a fine was the appropriate punishment.

It is reported that 60 per cent of magistrates work is now conducted via SJP, where the checks and scrutiny of open court justice are diminished: telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/0…

In the future, the legal oversight on magistrates doing this work will be even less:
standard.co.uk/news/uk/cutbac…

Together with @PenelopeGibbs2 @we_are_APPEAL's Naima Sakande, and @robroballen, I discuss the Single Justice Procedure and its impact on fair and open justice in this new podcast:
open.spotify.com/show/4Y8yoGp7d…
anchor.fm/transform-just…

A reminder that SJP was sold to MPs in 2014 on the basis that the media & public don't go to magistrates courts and no 'controversial' crimes would be dealt with this way

The minister even called it 'absurd' that they were currently dealt with in a traditional open court setting

Another minister floated the idea of real-time access to SJP proceedings and assured Lords that public access would not be diminished under the new system

Once you open the door to compromising #openjustice, without writing promises into law, there's no guarantee of anything

New: Court records show on the day of the vigil prosecutions, 24 cases of alleged COVID crimes were dealt with by a single magistrate in 2hrs & 15 mins.

That’s an average of just over 5mins per case.

10 convicted & sentenced, 11 sent to open court, two adjourned, one dismissed

A woman convicted of attending the vigil is seeking to reopen the case

"Angry & upset" at the vigil, she can't understand police decision to prosecute

"It feels like a power play, it feels like being intimidated, told to stand down & be quiet about this”
standard.co.uk/news/crime/met…

In other news, the government is more than six months overdue in responding to a Parliamentary inquiry into Covid laws.

The chair is unhappy, and has demanded answers from Dominic Raab.

standard.co.uk/news/uk/govern…