A strength of the English and Welsh bar has always been that it has both prosecuted and defended – and been peripatetic. My life as a CPS agent was comfortable but, from a justice perspective, too static and cosy. I became the bench’s ‘our Mr Morton’.
One chair expected me to tell him the test match score when he sat in the afternoon. He also rang me at home one weekend to ask for legal advice, which I declined. Another, meeting me in the street over a lunch adjournment, invited me to go and have a drink; which I also declined on the grounds I did not think he should be seen in public drinking with the prosecutor.
With the better training available today, no doubt this would not happen now. In fact, until the duty solicitor scheme arrived, I spent many lunch hours filling in legal aid forms for defendants. I also declined several invitations from those whose applications for an in-person adjournment I did not oppose, on the specious grounds that it would not do their credit much good among their peers if they were seen out with the ‘pros’.
However, a serious blow to my ego (and, I thought, justice) took place one afternoon in the traffic court. The case was open and shut. It was a bright, clear day. A cyclist was pedalling downhill 200 yards away. There was nothing to hinder the driver’s view when, with the cyclist 20 yards away, he started to pull out of a side turning. All I asked was: ‘Did you have a clear view?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘You were on the side road?’ ‘You simply pulled out, you just didn’t see him?’ ‘No’.
The bench returned after five minutes, said ‘Not guilty’ and went off for tea. I asked the clerk to find out how they had decided. They thought that because I hadn’t asked many questions, I wanted them to acquit him. That was bad enough. Even worse was that after all this time, they didn’t know what I wanted. Shortly after that, my daily fees were halved without notice and I was offered the editorship of a legal weekly. Merci and adieu, CPS.
James Morton is a writer and former criminal defence solicitor
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