A group of practitioners learnt about how the magistrates’ courts work and the roles of the people involved in criminal hearings during a training session recently.

Over 40 local practitioners, who work in support services to help people who have experienced domestic abuse, attended the training session.

The session covered:

• The court layout and court facilities, including special measures.
• The role and remit of the different agencies involved with a hearing, including magistrates, legal advisors, ushers, the Crown Prosecution Service, defence lawyer, and the police.
• The role and remit of support services involved with hearings, including the Witness Care Unit and Witness Support.
• Sentencing options including decision making and the role of the Probation Service.
• An overview of the Youth Court and County Court.

The training was organised by the North East Hampshire Domestic Abuse Forum and Basingstoke Court staff, supported by the Crown Prosecution Service, defence lawyer Alfie Doran, magistrates, legal advisors, court ushers and the police domestic abuse court liaison officer. The afternoon session was facilitated by the National Probation Service, alongside the court legal advisors, and examined different sentencing options and programmes available to help people address their abusive or controlling behaviour.

Magistrate Owen Durrett said “My colleagues have been trained to deal with the issues of domestic abuse which come to court, and I was pleased we were able to show the practitioners who deal with such issues on a daily basis how they are handled when they result in court proceedings. I hope that this will enable them to give their clients assurances as to how their case will be dealt with.”

The training was part of a series of multi-agency training sessions, which help local support services to ensure that they are able to assist all those affected by domestic abuse understand the options available to them and keep them safe. For information about forthcoming training events, visit www.nehantsdvf.co.uk.

Anyone affected by domestic abuse can contact the Integrated Domestic Abuse Service for Hampshire on 0330 0165112 or Women’s’ Aid national helpline on 0808 800 0247, the Male Victim helpline 0808 801 0327 or the National LGBT domestic abuse helpline 0800 999 5428. For those who would like help in addressing their own behaviour, contact Respect Phoneline on 0808 802 4040. In an emergency, call 999.