Still at the Crown court, Obiter was struck by the amount of spare seating available – especially at what, in days gone by, would have been the press benches. Nowadays no local newspaper or agency has reporters to spare for hearings that are not guaranteed to generate a story. And, unless a celeb or a particularly heinous crime is involved, a preliminary hearing couched with reporting restrictions definitely falls into that category.

 So, what to do with the empty seats? Two public policy issues have been exercising Obiter recently: the dire lack of public knowledge about the criminal justice system – and the need to provide warm spaces this winter for people who cannot afford to heat their homes. We will leave it to others to make the connection.

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