CRIMINALS' COURT ON CAMERA

31-03-2007

Birmingham's top lawyer has given his backing to a pioneering TV channel which is planning to start filming defendants on the steps of the city's magistrates courts.

The Aston-based Legal TV channel - which is available online and to Sky viewers - will have camera crews out in Corporation Street on Monday for a new programme called “People's Court”.

Defendants will be interviewed and asked for their instant reaction to verdicts.

Legal TV spokesman Vijay Gulwani told us: “The whole idea is to get people's perceptions of what they've been through.

“People might say, ‘these are just petty criminals' but we will have the chance to hear how they think society has treated them.

“This is really reflecting what's going on in society."

Gulwani's aim is to push the boundaries of what is acceptable in legal coverage - with the ultimate aim of getting access to the courts themselves and filming trials.

Malcolm Fowler, chair of Birmingham's Law Society, is supportive of the plan.

He said: “Some of my colleagues are fiercely protective of the courts, and there are dangers. But we should be actively looking at ways we can open up the process.

“If the public don't understand what's being done in their names, they can leap to all sorts of conclusions. They always seem to think that nobody is sent to jail, and that feeds through to their MP's, but we actually send more people to jail than anywhere in Europe."

Fowler stepped short of endorsing full TV coverage of all trial, but added: "I'm all for the experiment of opening up the courts butthe issue should be explored more thoroughly."

The first shows will be online from Monday, and they'll go live on telly from May 1. To find out more go to http://www.legaltv.co.uk