to the class as useful background information.
Main activity
Burglary: A mock trial role-play
The police have arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with a local secondary school break-in.
He is charged with vandalising the school, stealing computer equipment and other valuables, and assaulting the school caretaker.
Students role-play the stages from the Criminal Justice System. They could be divided into groups for this or it could involve the whole class.
The list of characters could be:
- The defendant
- The caretaker
- The headteacher
- The defendant's solicitor
- The police
- The criminal prosecutor (from the CPS)
- The judge
- Eye-witnesses
The students should also try to agree a suitable sentence for the defendant if convicted.
Extension activity
The role-play could be used as the stimulus for a written activity where students describe the CJS process from their characters point of view.
Plenary
Recap on the five stages of the CJS and students can present their written accounts of their characters' viewpoints.
Teachers' Background
- The police make two million arrests every year.
- The youth court deals only with defendants aged 17 and under. It is usually based in or near the Magistrates' Court.
- Different rules apply to defendants who are under the age of 18.
- Few cases are automatically sent to a Crown Court, even if the case very serious.
- Sentences for youths are more varied than those for adults, and their parents can also be made to prevent their children from breaking the law again.
Turn this into an assembly
- A group of volunteers could present the ideas from the role-play outlined above.
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