Courts and Tribunals Observers’ Network

When I was homeless, I was in and out of court and in and out of prison. I was like … just um, just going round in circles, over and over again for a long time … The thing is that I had needs that weren’t being met – problems with substance misuse, alcohol, addiction. I couldn’t cope with life, and it was easy just to send me back to prison – no need to sort out my needs. (Simon)^[1]

Simon’s experience of being homeless alongside complex issues of disadvantage, repeat encounters with the criminal justice system and episodes of imprisonment, illustrates the essence of my PhD thesis. The aim of my research was to explore the connections between homelessness and engagement in the Criminal Justice System, specifically the magistrates’ court. Despite a defendant’s address or absence of address being recorded by the legal advisor at the start of the hearing, a defendant’s housing status is not included in court figures. With no official data collection or detailed knowledge from research of the cases prosecuted against homeless defendants in the magistrates’ court and the sentencing outcomes my first task was to gather data in the remand court. I spent forty days observing cases of both housed and homeless defendants and one of the lasting impressions was the exclusion and marginalisation of defendants in the remand court. The following short blog was written for Transform Justice: “Am I going to prison?”: How defendants are excluded and marginalised.

• Dr Jill Harbord

On my daily walk to court, clear plastic bags with yellow tags on the pavement were a telltale sign that I was nearing the building. The bags – that had contained personal possessions – had been discarded by people released from court custody. For 40 days I sat as an observer in the remand court of a south coast magistrates’ court as part of my PhD studies. My research examined the revolving cycle of homeless defendants in the lower criminal court. The remand court hears cases involving defendants who have been denied police bail and detained – ‘remanded’ – overnight in police custody. 

One of the lasting impressions of my experience gathering courtroom data – apart from the hard wooden benches, frosty ushers frequently asking, “and you are?” and hours of inaction – was the sidelining, exclusion and marginalisation of defendants. Individuals in the remand court are accompanied by one or two dock officers into a secure glass dock that dominates one side of the courtroom. Once in the dock defendants are told by the legal advisor to remain standing and to give their name, date of birth and address (if they have one) to the court through a tiny gap in the plexiglass. Defendants are then asked to sit down, placing them not only within a box but also at a distance beyond normal face-to-face conversation. This physical separation and exclusion from the rest of the court clearly interferes with the defendant’s ability to hear what is being said and communicate with the court. 

You can read the rest of Dr Jill Harbord’s blog on the Transform Justice website: “Am I going to prison?”: How defendants are excluded and marginalised.

^[1] Simon, with lived experience of homelessness and involvement in the criminal justice system, was one of the participants interviewed for the book.