Imagine, if you can, that you are Naomi Campbell. You have been in and out of court more often than a fiddler's elbow. You might feel a need for almost constant legal advice. The quantity of porridge you could be looking at, or the amount of compensation you might be shelling out after a difficult afternoon with the maid, might become very attractive knowledge.


But where do you go to find out? Your lawyer? Too expensive, and you virtually have a loyalty card with him anyway. Instead, you would probably turn to the Internet. But until now, where would you have gone to find out what the beak might do?



Ms Campbell, and any other celeb in the news - or in court - now need look no further than www.online-court.co.uk for help in their darkest hour. Those facing time in a cell can now check if there are any mitigating factors to fall back on, what will happen, depending on their plea, whether they need a lawyer (of course they do), potential costs and even some hints and tips.



Court Online was set up by magistrate Neil Humphrey and David Lowdell, a clerk to the justices for 30 years. They 'felt there wasn't sufficient information already in the public domain around sentencing', according to their press release, so 'they would provide it themselves'. Indeed. Obiter thinks it should also be made available as a mobile service, for those moments when one is far away from a PC, but uncomfortably close to the long arm of the law.