December 10, 2025 • 27 mins
This week I'm joined by Luke Sambridge, who became a magistrate at just 20 years old. Luke explains what magistrates really do, the skills that matter most, and why people from all backgrounds, not just legal experts, can apply.
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(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,
and in this episode I speak to Luke,who volunteers as a magistrate.
Yeah. So.
Hi, I'm Luke, I live in Leedswith my partner and two children.
I my day job, I lead, a department
(00:20):
which looks at how we workfor a private medical insurer.
So I help them kind of redesigned
how they work today and how they improvethings for the future.
And I'm also about to stay on the WestYorkshire bench.
I applied when I was about 18 years old,believe it or not.
And then startedsetting to my first course, when I was 20.
(00:42):
So the rules probably being thata large part of my life
and definitely has been the one job that'sbeen the longest of my entire career,
if that makes sense. Yeah. Fantastic.
So can you tell uswhat does the day to day
as a magistrate look like?
Yeah.
(01:03):
So magistrates work on, somethingcalled, benches,
which is basically a panel,of free magistrates.
And the magistrate rolereally is to hear about
95% of all criminal cases in the UK.
So we hear the real cases, we,
(01:23):
ask questions during those cases.
And then as a result,the bench or the magistrate panel,
they reach decisions together primarilyon whether somebody is guilty,
whether somebody is not guilty,for example, or what sentences,
we should passas a result of hearing the evidence.
(01:43):
Most dayswhen you, when you go into court,
you'll be sat there reviewing papers,
you'lllisten to certain parties in a courtroom.
So there's the prosecution.
They are the people that are,providing the case,
which is accusingan individual of something.
And then there is the defense,and they are providing the case around
(02:07):
why that individualis not guilty of that accusation.
And then generally,
what we do is oncewe've heard all the evidence, we will
the panel will go and we will assesswhat we thought we discussed in private.
Between us, we reach a decision
and then we come back into courtand we provide that decision
in, in real, plain languageso everybody can understand that,
(02:30):
it's really structured.
You do a lot of cases a day, that.
No, two days in the entire 20 years
that I've been sitting thereor thereabouts,
at the same which is, which is really goodand really interesting.
Yeah. Amazing.
So are you on a sort of timetable?
(02:51):
Do you sign up for shifts?
Do you have to go in every day?
How does the sort of logistics of it work?
Yeah of course.
So you commit as a magistrate to setat least 13 days a year.
So it's just over one day a month.
Now, the way that
it worksis that you will put in your availability,
(03:13):
to the listings team who are responsiblefor arranging all of the courts and making
sure that there's enough magistratesfor the courts that are sitting,
and you provide your, your availabilityevery six months,
and then they will rota youto set based upon
your available days,over a six month period.
So you generally get told every six monthswhat the next six months look like.
(03:38):
Which I find really good to be fairbecause it allows you to plan
if you've got certain holidaysthat you're, you know
you're going on, or if you can't sayon certain days of the week, it allows you
to put all of that information in,and they obviously help you to arrange
or courts around your day to day life,if that makes sense.
Yeah. No, completely.
(03:59):
And so you first volunteeredwhen you were 18.
So what led to that decision?
Yeah.
So, you know, backin the day when I was young,
we used to sit
around, breakfast table on a Sunday.
But the only time
that my family ever really got together,and my dad worked quite a lot,
and so did my mum.
(04:20):
So on a Sunday, it was family breakfast.
And every Sundaymy mum and dad would get papers
and they wouldthey kind of moaning and criticizing,
I suppose, various things that had goneon, in society.
I remember sitting there thinking,you know,
well, why don't you do something about itlike it is?
(04:43):
Okay, we're sat here,
we're discussing the outputsof various things, but in a way that
could be part of that change.
So I think that stuck with me as a kid,that really kind of thinking, well,
I want to make a difference here.
I want, I want my voice to be heard.
So when I, was slightly older,
I gone to universityand my lecturer at the time and it said,
(05:05):
oh, they're,
they're starting
to bring in new magistratesthat they've reduced the age down to 18.
So anybody now between 1875and sit as a magistrate.
And he said, oh, whether you give it a go.
I thought, no,they probably won't take me.
And to a certain degree,
but I thought, you know what?
(05:26):
No, no, I will, because I rememberevery Sunday being frustrated.
So I did that, put in my application.
It took a while, took about 18 months,
and a number of interviews, etc..
But I was finally appointedjust before my 20th birthday,
as a magistrate.
(05:47):
So that's reallywhat got me into it, really
was those early life experiences of,oh, why don't you be part of the change?
Yeah. That's brilliant.
So you don't need a legal backgroundto become a magistrate.
So what does this interview processlook like?
What do they after?
So I think that's one of the bigmisconceptions about being a magistrate.
(06:09):
I think everybody believes thatwe're legally qualified but not asleep.
And not it'snot about the legal knowledge at all.
Right. At night.
I think when I look at magistratesand look at the skills
that we're really asking forand you need to focus in on,
it's the ability first of all, to be ableto listen and actually understand.
I think a lot of people will listen,but they listen to respond
(06:32):
rather than listen to understandsomebody's point of view.
So I definitely saythat's one of the primary skills.
Second, curiosity is really important.
So just to be curious aboutwhat's going on,
what's happening with what you're hearingis really important.
As I mentioned, we're a panel of three.
(06:54):
So you're never going to decide thingsjust on your own.
So it's really important that you workwell with others
to a certain degreeand that you can be part of that team.
And then
because of the work we do wheredealing with some of the most,
that's a trickiest of life experiences.
(07:15):
So, you know, you need toyou need the ability to kind of stay calm
when things get a little bit tense.
Because they will do wheredealing with people's lives and,
and some of the decisions we maketake people away from their family.
So it can be really hard to the abilityto remain calm.
And then the final thing I'd say is
(07:36):
having that humility is really important.
You know, we are no different
than the society that we serve.
So being able to kind of resonatewith that, I think is quite an important
underlying skill that I thinkmost magistrates would need to have.
Yeah, absolutely.
(07:57):
When you say there's three of you,is that a a does that change each time.
Is that a pool of magistrates.
And you'll put with two others,whoever might be on shift that time.
Or are you always with the same people.
Yeah.
So the answer to thatis they're always different.
And if I think of the West Georgia bench,we must have,
(08:18):
you know, 500 plus magistrates.
And we have a number of courthouses.
So, you could be workingin our Bradford court one day.
You the next time you might be in Leeds.
So, you know, you're not necessarily goingto sit with the same people every day.
And I think that's that's the benefit ofit really, is that you get to meet.
(08:43):
So many different people from so manydifferent walks of life and background.
I find that really interesting, though.
It's not like you go into workand you'll be in the same people
every day like you would doingyour normal work life.
It's you might be sat with somebodythat's a nurse.
One day you might be sat with somebodywho's a mechanic the next,
(09:04):
and they all have different stories anddifferent, you know, views of the world.
So I think that probably one of the,the big benefits
about being a magistrate is the abilityto meet so many different people
that you wouldn'tnecessarily meet in your day to day job.
Yeah. That's brilliant.
So you've obviously spokenabout how intense it can be.
(09:27):
Do you find that if it does startto emotionally affect you, is there
support in place for the magistratesto help them with that?
I think the role that we do,
it can be really hard,as I've mentioned before.
And I think you have to be verycomfortable with the decisions you make.
(09:51):
However, it's a panel of free,so not every time do you walk
into what we call the retiring room,our private room where we meet to discuss.
Not every time
does your
opinion endup being the full opinion of the bench.
You you might go in thinking one thing.
You talk, you discuss,
(10:12):
you're challenged by your colleaguesin the right way, etc.
I think you might end upwith a different view.
And sometimes that can be a little bithard.
Number one,
to, to kind of take that on.
I think the second piece issometimes the outputs of what we do.
If it impacts real people,it impacts real lives.
(10:35):
This isn't a soap opera.
This is reality for people.
And that that can sometimes sit with you.
But, you're extremely supported.
You are supportednot only by your bench or your panel.
We have a wider panel,which is the bench chair
(10:56):
who looks after every magistratewho sits within West Yorkshire.
And there's a number of themthroughout the UK,
and they're there for support as well.
In addition, we have a lot of support
provided, in terms of,
you know, if you want to talk to somebody,I think they would be very similar
to employee assistance programsthat maybe other large corporations give.
(11:19):
So you all you
have a lot of this informationand a lot of support around you,
but as well as that, your trainingand what you're trying to do
also supports youwith those big decisions as well.
So you certainly know on your ownand over the last, you know, 20
odd years I've been doing this now,when I've needed help and assistance,
(11:41):
it felt more like it was in abundance
than me having to go and search for it.
Yeah. Brilliant.
So how has being a magistrate impactedyou professionally?
Has it helped you with your chosen careerpath?
You know, so I've been a magistrate longerthan I've done at anything else
in my life. Really.
(12:04):
And, you know, joiningwhen you when I was in my 20s,
I was at the rightat the start of my career.
I gone to uni, decidedit wasn't necessarily
for me, and startedin totally different direction.
And it really has helped me.
It's kind of shaped who I amand how I think,
(12:24):
and it certainly impactedmy leadership style.
So I think through the workand through sitting in court,
you see the reality of people's livesand that reality might be different
to yours, and that enables you to buildquite a lot of empathy.
But it also gives you a clear insight into
all of the various cornersthat society have.
(12:48):
And I think it allows you to learnvery quickly
how to ask good questionsand then how to make decisions,
sometimes with incomplete information.
Now, I mentioned courtrooms are not likewhat you see on soap opera dramas.
You you don't know who who the victim is.
(13:09):
You don't knowwhether the person in front of you is done
what they said they've done,how or what's accused against them.
You just have to take the evidencethat you get given. So,
and then use that
to thencome up with a decision in their sentence.
So I think it's really helped mehave the ability
(13:31):
to use information in that wayand still to come to decisions.
I think at work, what I do hereis, is that it helps me
provide clarityin the leadership that I give, I can give,
I can ask good questions to understandwhat's happening across the business.
And then I can sometimes make decisionswhen I don't have all of the information.
(13:54):
I think that's quite a strengththat's helped me in my career.
And then I think in my work, in my homelife as well,
I think it's also helped me there.
I, I'mraising two kids in a very busy world.
Right.
I have a gay dad,so it's given me a different perspective.
You know how to help my kids grow up?
(14:17):
And I think
it's also had such a huge impacton how I knight how I now
try and help them navigate the worldthrough their eyes as well.
Yeah, yeah.
That's wonderful.
Amazing.
Volunteers are expected to sit
for at least five years, so.
(14:38):
And you've obviously donemuch longer than that.
How has that been
balancing that commitment alongside,
you know, as you say, raisingtwo children, doing a variety of jobs.
How have you managed to to balance that?
Yeah, it's it's not been easy.
And I think any
(15:00):
I think anybody with kids without kids,
busy work life, busy social life,
you know, we've all got things,
and life goes on 100%.
So it is not the easiest, but I think,
the team in court, they're really helpful.
So being given the opportunityto know where
(15:23):
you are going to be six months in advance,
I don't think we get that in lifevery often, which is really helpful.
But they're also extremely flexible.
So if something does come up and life'sadmin does get in the way for you, which
it does for us. All right.
(15:43):
They will they will
move things around when they can,and they will support you
to get the most out of what you needto, to do with the court team.
And I think from work,
I've had a number of different careers
with different organizations, and therehasn't been a single organization
(16:04):
which wasn't supportive of their employeesdoing some form of civic duties.
So I've been really lucky,
within my career that both at home,
I've got a great partner who helps,
within the court team.
We've got a great team who helps
you get the most out of your time in courtand will help you with things come up.
(16:27):
But also,I have a great employer, and have done
who recognizes the importanceof volunteering in your community.
So I think with some forward planning
and a bit of realism, that you'renot always going to get it right,
you can quite easilyfit this into your life.
(16:48):
Yeah. Perfect.
What challengeshave you faced in the role?
You've talked about how intense it can be.
How sort of emotional it can be.
But what what would you saythe main challenges of the role are?
And how have you dealt with them?
One of the biggest challenges that I facedin, in Be
(17:08):
the Magistrate is thatI became a magistrate at the age of 20.
And, you know, back then it was
it was a lot more unusual than itthat it is today.
And I'm being really openand honest, but it was a bit,
because of the unusual nature of it.
(17:28):
I did experience some prejudice,when I first started,
although that was from a minority.
Right.
But I definitely experiencedthe challenge of
why are you here?
What life experience do you have?
For example, which which was really
something that, you know,
(17:50):
I hadn't necessarily considereduntil I did and until I started.
But what was really,really good is that I'd had
a real supportive group around me
who helped me settle in and,
and kind of grow my confidence and,and find my voice.
Now, I think over time, the wider bench,
(18:13):
for me has been young enough.
You can't get away from seeing that.
I visibly look younger.
But I think they saw that youthand the fact that I have a different life
experience, and I had a different opinionon things that were happening,
and they started to see thatthat really wasn't a weakness.
That was actually a strength.
(18:36):
And Ithink what they started to realize is
I started adding to the conversation.
It was adding to the strengthof the decisions that were made
because I opened up,you know, a 20 year old mind
and everything that 20 year olds do
within the discussion.
And I think it was that early kindof experience that it was a challenge.
(19:00):
And whilst it was a personal challenge,
it taught me a lot about
the bench makeupand how that the city does
really strengthened by the,the end result in terms of justice.
And so.
Absolutely.
Have you found in your timeworking in the courts
(19:21):
that there are more youngerpeople joining?
And do you see that happening morethan when you first joined 20 years ago?
Or or is it still a
sort of certain agegroup of people that that apply?
Yeah.
So whenI first joined, it looked very different
(19:42):
than than what it looked today.
And I had some funny storieswhen I first joined
because I think people presumedI wasn't actually a magistrate.
A couple of instances told
I was sat on the wrong side of the bench.
Which is quite funny for me.
I took it quite lighthearted.
It was quite sweet.
(20:04):
I can't get away with that anymore.
Just to be really clear. So.
But, I think now when I look across
and I walk into, you know, retiring rooms,
if I sit with the panels that I sit with
today, more than ever,
the panel is lookingreflective of society.
(20:26):
There's young people.
There's people that are slightly older.
There are different parts of societywithin the bench.
They all come from differentbackgrounds, different ethnicities.
So I think it's a lot, lot better.
I mean, we've still got some way to go,you know,
(20:46):
but I, I look at thisthe difference and it's day and night,
I would say between when I first joinedand I was probably
the youngest and looked
the youngest by a very long way.
This is now,
there is a huge mix.
You look around the roomand you do have to.
(21:09):
You know what this is? Society.
I mean, this is exactly the melting pot
that we should have in herewith all different opinions.
So I think it's a lot different.
I would like to see it still go further.
And I think we should always striveto, to do better.
But it's a lot, lot different now. Yeah.
Yeah. Brilliant.
(21:29):
It sounds likesuch an invaluable experience that it.
That's really great that we're startingto see a much wider range of ages
and especially young people.
It it feels so invaluableto get in quite early, to be able
to grow their confidenceand grow their voices
in the ways that you've described and see.
And I thinkwhat's really interesting just on that is,
(21:50):
I think a lot of Manchester magistratesand men
and people that do not just trades,
I think they believe still todaythat, you know,
they're all quite older,all come from middle aged, you know,
middle class backgrounds,are both extremely well-educated,
must have come to do X,Y and Z in their careers.
(22:13):
Hey, what's really excitingand what I love about it is
I'm not just right nowto, in today's world, can come from
every background that you can imagine,and probably your listeners
have already spoken to a magistratewithout even realizing it.
So you know thatthat person that might have said to coffee
(22:33):
this morning, or the personthat was on the tell in the supermarket
over the weekend, or your local mechanicor that call center
worker when you're trying to sell,your internet, for example,
any of them
could be a magistrate,and some of them probably are.
And I think that's really importantfor people to remember.
(22:54):
Magistrates are not on a pedestal.
They're not something different.
They're just you and me and just people.
And I think the more we can getthat kind of psychological
thought going through our brains,the more important people
will realize will actually,I could do this.
And, you know,there is nothing stopping me applying.
(23:15):
Absolutely.
If somebody wanted to beginthe application
process, what advice do you have for them?
So the first thing I do and this wasn'tavailable when I joined, but it's great.
Now there's a there's a new website calledI Can Be a magistrate.
Decoder UK, I believe it is.
And that has some real great informationon it, videos
(23:37):
and various things you can look at.
So first and foremost I sayis go and have a look on the website.
It answered the loaded questions
that once you've donethat and once you've applied,
there's a couple of things I'dprobably say
the most important thingis don't change who you are.
So when you're going throughthe application process, just be yourself.
(24:01):
And because that's what we're looking foryou as an individual and and what
you bring to it to the melting pot,be clear on like how you think,
and not necessarily what you know,
as I as I mentioned,you don't need to be good with law.
So it's more about how you think.
And it's really helpfulif you think about examples
(24:23):
where you've, you know, be,
you've had a difficult decision to makeor you provided some judgment
and then go and visit a courtroom,and see what it's like.
And especiallyif you go to any court building
and you explain, you know, you want to bea magistrate, you've applied,
they'll look after you, that
(24:43):
they'll helpyou see the process that happens in court.
And then just be really open and curiousand grounded about yourself.
So during the process, they do ask yousome weird and wonderful questions,
that you might not be asked inlike everyday job interviews.
Just be open with kind of
(25:04):
trying to unpick yourself a little bit,
and, and just be open and honestabout what your thoughts are
because what they're looking foris, is like that real person.
Who cares about doing the right thing?
They're not looking for a cookie cutter,
versionof who you believe a magistrate is.
So that's probably my biggest advice
(25:25):
in terms of going through that applicationprocess.
Yeah. Fantastic.
Do you have a favorite partof a typical court day?
I think everybody would answer this in aslightly different way as a magistrate.
But there's one thing I,
I kind of really like, and that is
(25:45):
when as a panel, you reach a fair decision
and you then go in
and have the opportunityto explain that decision
to the court, and
it's the momentwhere you can see the court settle.
So up to that point where the decision isbeen argued, I suppose the,
(26:08):
you know, for and against there's athere can be a tenseness in the court room
once you've gone out and you come backand you provide that decision,
you can see the room settlebecause people, they might not agree
with your sentence or your decision,
but people understand why.
And how you come to reach that decision.
(26:30):
There's this all of a sudden there's a,
there's a sense of oh we understand that,that goes in the, into the courtroom.
And I think it's moments like that
that I actually really likebecause up to that point
there's been a lot of uncertaintyfor someone.
And now there is that certainty.
(26:52):
And I think that's what shows,you know, being a magistrate at their best
to come up and provide certainty,say where otherwise there wasn't.
Yeah.
So it's probably that part.
Oh the fantastic.
That's brilliant.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Oh thank you so much for having me.
It's been great.
(27:12):
So thank you.
Thanks again to Luke for their time.
For more information
on volunteering as a magistrate,you can check out the show notes below.
If you enjoyed the episode,we'd love to hear from you!
You can contact us on podcast at ProspectStack UK,
or you can leave us a reviewon Apple or Spotify.
Thank you, as always, for listening andgood luck on your journey to future you.
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,
and in this episode I speak to Luke,who volunteers as a magistrate.
Yeah. So.
Hi, I'm Luke, I live in Leedswith my partner and two children.
I my day job, I lead, a department
(00:20):
which looks at how we workfor a private medical insurer.
So I help them kind of redesigned
how they work today and how they improvethings for the future.
And I'm also about to stay on the WestYorkshire bench.
I applied when I was about 18 years old,believe it or not.
And then startedsetting to my first course, when I was 20.
(00:42):
So the rules probably being thata large part of my life
and definitely has been the one job that'sbeen the longest of my entire career,
if that makes sense. Yeah. Fantastic.
So can you tell uswhat does the day to day
as a magistrate look like?
Yeah.
(01:03):
So magistrates work on, somethingcalled, benches,
which is basically a panel,of free magistrates.
And the magistrate rolereally is to hear about
95% of all criminal cases in the UK.
So we hear the real cases, we,
(01:23):
ask questions during those cases.
And then as a result,the bench or the magistrate panel,
they reach decisions together primarilyon whether somebody is guilty,
whether somebody is not guilty,for example, or what sentences,
we should passas a result of hearing the evidence.
(01:43):
Most dayswhen you, when you go into court,
you'll be sat there reviewing papers,
you'lllisten to certain parties in a courtroom.
So there's the prosecution.
They are the people that are,providing the case,
which is accusingan individual of something.
And then there is the defense,and they are providing the case around
(02:07):
why that individualis not guilty of that accusation.
And then generally,
what we do is oncewe've heard all the evidence, we will
the panel will go and we will assesswhat we thought we discussed in private.
Between us, we reach a decision
and then we come back into courtand we provide that decision
in, in real, plain languageso everybody can understand that,
(02:30):
it's really structured.
You do a lot of cases a day, that.
No, two days in the entire 20 years
that I've been sitting thereor thereabouts,
at the same which is, which is really goodand really interesting.
Yeah. Amazing.
So are you on a sort of timetable?
(02:51):
Do you sign up for shifts?
Do you have to go in every day?
How does the sort of logistics of it work?
Yeah of course.
So you commit as a magistrate to setat least 13 days a year.
So it's just over one day a month.
Now, the way that
it worksis that you will put in your availability,
(03:13):
to the listings team who are responsiblefor arranging all of the courts and making
sure that there's enough magistratesfor the courts that are sitting,
and you provide your, your availabilityevery six months,
and then they will rota youto set based upon
your available days,over a six month period.
So you generally get told every six monthswhat the next six months look like.
(03:38):
Which I find really good to be fairbecause it allows you to plan
if you've got certain holidaysthat you're, you know
you're going on, or if you can't sayon certain days of the week, it allows you
to put all of that information in,and they obviously help you to arrange
or courts around your day to day life,if that makes sense.
Yeah. No, completely.
(03:59):
And so you first volunteeredwhen you were 18.
So what led to that decision?
Yeah.
So, you know, backin the day when I was young,
we used to sit
around, breakfast table on a Sunday.
But the only time
that my family ever really got together,and my dad worked quite a lot,
and so did my mum.
(04:20):
So on a Sunday, it was family breakfast.
And every Sundaymy mum and dad would get papers
and they wouldthey kind of moaning and criticizing,
I suppose, various things that had goneon, in society.
I remember sitting there thinking,you know,
well, why don't you do something about itlike it is?
(04:43):
Okay, we're sat here,
we're discussing the outputsof various things, but in a way that
could be part of that change.
So I think that stuck with me as a kid,that really kind of thinking, well,
I want to make a difference here.
I want, I want my voice to be heard.
So when I, was slightly older,
I gone to universityand my lecturer at the time and it said,
(05:05):
oh, they're,
they're starting
to bring in new magistratesthat they've reduced the age down to 18.
So anybody now between 1875and sit as a magistrate.
And he said, oh, whether you give it a go.
I thought, no,they probably won't take me.
And to a certain degree,
but I thought, you know what?
(05:26):
No, no, I will, because I rememberevery Sunday being frustrated.
So I did that, put in my application.
It took a while, took about 18 months,
and a number of interviews, etc..
But I was finally appointedjust before my 20th birthday,
as a magistrate.
(05:47):
So that's reallywhat got me into it, really
was those early life experiences of,oh, why don't you be part of the change?
Yeah. That's brilliant.
So you don't need a legal backgroundto become a magistrate.
So what does this interview processlook like?
What do they after?
So I think that's one of the bigmisconceptions about being a magistrate.
(06:09):
I think everybody believes thatwe're legally qualified but not asleep.
And not it'snot about the legal knowledge at all.
Right. At night.
I think when I look at magistratesand look at the skills
that we're really asking forand you need to focus in on,
it's the ability first of all, to be ableto listen and actually understand.
I think a lot of people will listen,but they listen to respond
(06:32):
rather than listen to understandsomebody's point of view.
So I definitely saythat's one of the primary skills.
Second, curiosity is really important.
So just to be curious aboutwhat's going on,
what's happening with what you're hearingis really important.
As I mentioned, we're a panel of three.
(06:54):
So you're never going to decide thingsjust on your own.
So it's really important that you workwell with others
to a certain degreeand that you can be part of that team.
And then
because of the work we do wheredealing with some of the most,
that's a trickiest of life experiences.
(07:15):
So, you know, you need toyou need the ability to kind of stay calm
when things get a little bit tense.
Because they will do wheredealing with people's lives and,
and some of the decisions we maketake people away from their family.
So it can be really hard to the abilityto remain calm.
And then the final thing I'd say is
(07:36):
having that humility is really important.
You know, we are no different
than the society that we serve.
So being able to kind of resonatewith that, I think is quite an important
underlying skill that I thinkmost magistrates would need to have.
Yeah, absolutely.
(07:57):
When you say there's three of you,is that a a does that change each time.
Is that a pool of magistrates.
And you'll put with two others,whoever might be on shift that time.
Or are you always with the same people.
Yeah.
So the answer to thatis they're always different.
And if I think of the West Georgia bench,we must have,
(08:18):
you know, 500 plus magistrates.
And we have a number of courthouses.
So, you could be workingin our Bradford court one day.
You the next time you might be in Leeds.
So, you know, you're not necessarily goingto sit with the same people every day.
And I think that's that's the benefit ofit really, is that you get to meet.
(08:43):
So many different people from so manydifferent walks of life and background.
I find that really interesting, though.
It's not like you go into workand you'll be in the same people
every day like you would doingyour normal work life.
It's you might be sat with somebodythat's a nurse.
One day you might be sat with somebodywho's a mechanic the next,
(09:04):
and they all have different stories anddifferent, you know, views of the world.
So I think that probably one of the,the big benefits
about being a magistrate is the abilityto meet so many different people
that you wouldn'tnecessarily meet in your day to day job.
Yeah. That's brilliant.
So you've obviously spokenabout how intense it can be.
(09:27):
Do you find that if it does startto emotionally affect you, is there
support in place for the magistratesto help them with that?
I think the role that we do,
it can be really hard,as I've mentioned before.
And I think you have to be verycomfortable with the decisions you make.
(09:51):
However, it's a panel of free,so not every time do you walk
into what we call the retiring room,our private room where we meet to discuss.
Not every time
does your
opinion endup being the full opinion of the bench.
You you might go in thinking one thing.
You talk, you discuss,
(10:12):
you're challenged by your colleaguesin the right way, etc.
I think you might end upwith a different view.
And sometimes that can be a little bithard.
Number one,
to, to kind of take that on.
I think the second piece issometimes the outputs of what we do.
If it impacts real people,it impacts real lives.
(10:35):
This isn't a soap opera.
This is reality for people.
And that that can sometimes sit with you.
But, you're extremely supported.
You are supportednot only by your bench or your panel.
We have a wider panel,which is the bench chair
(10:56):
who looks after every magistratewho sits within West Yorkshire.
And there's a number of themthroughout the UK,
and they're there for support as well.
In addition, we have a lot of support
provided, in terms of,
you know, if you want to talk to somebody,I think they would be very similar
to employee assistance programsthat maybe other large corporations give.
(11:19):
So you all you
have a lot of this informationand a lot of support around you,
but as well as that, your trainingand what you're trying to do
also supports youwith those big decisions as well.
So you certainly know on your ownand over the last, you know, 20
odd years I've been doing this now,when I've needed help and assistance,
(11:41):
it felt more like it was in abundance
than me having to go and search for it.
Yeah. Brilliant.
So how has being a magistrate impactedyou professionally?
Has it helped you with your chosen careerpath?
You know, so I've been a magistrate longerthan I've done at anything else
in my life. Really.
(12:04):
And, you know, joiningwhen you when I was in my 20s,
I was at the rightat the start of my career.
I gone to uni, decidedit wasn't necessarily
for me, and startedin totally different direction.
And it really has helped me.
It's kind of shaped who I amand how I think,
(12:24):
and it certainly impactedmy leadership style.
So I think through the workand through sitting in court,
you see the reality of people's livesand that reality might be different
to yours, and that enables you to buildquite a lot of empathy.
But it also gives you a clear insight into
all of the various cornersthat society have.
(12:48):
And I think it allows you to learnvery quickly
how to ask good questionsand then how to make decisions,
sometimes with incomplete information.
Now, I mentioned courtrooms are not likewhat you see on soap opera dramas.
You you don't know who who the victim is.
(13:09):
You don't knowwhether the person in front of you is done
what they said they've done,how or what's accused against them.
You just have to take the evidencethat you get given. So,
and then use that
to thencome up with a decision in their sentence.
So I think it's really helped mehave the ability
(13:31):
to use information in that wayand still to come to decisions.
I think at work, what I do hereis, is that it helps me
provide clarityin the leadership that I give, I can give,
I can ask good questions to understandwhat's happening across the business.
And then I can sometimes make decisionswhen I don't have all of the information.
(13:54):
I think that's quite a strengththat's helped me in my career.
And then I think in my work, in my homelife as well,
I think it's also helped me there.
I, I'mraising two kids in a very busy world.
Right.
I have a gay dad,so it's given me a different perspective.
You know how to help my kids grow up?
(14:17):
And I think
it's also had such a huge impacton how I knight how I now
try and help them navigate the worldthrough their eyes as well.
Yeah, yeah.
That's wonderful.
Amazing.
Volunteers are expected to sit
for at least five years, so.
(14:38):
And you've obviously donemuch longer than that.
How has that been
balancing that commitment alongside,
you know, as you say, raisingtwo children, doing a variety of jobs.
How have you managed to to balance that?
Yeah, it's it's not been easy.
And I think any
(15:00):
I think anybody with kids without kids,
busy work life, busy social life,
you know, we've all got things,
and life goes on 100%.
So it is not the easiest, but I think,
the team in court, they're really helpful.
So being given the opportunityto know where
(15:23):
you are going to be six months in advance,
I don't think we get that in lifevery often, which is really helpful.
But they're also extremely flexible.
So if something does come up and life'sadmin does get in the way for you, which
it does for us. All right.
(15:43):
They will they will
move things around when they can,and they will support you
to get the most out of what you needto, to do with the court team.
And I think from work,
I've had a number of different careers
with different organizations, and therehasn't been a single organization
(16:04):
which wasn't supportive of their employeesdoing some form of civic duties.
So I've been really lucky,
within my career that both at home,
I've got a great partner who helps,
within the court team.
We've got a great team who helps
you get the most out of your time in courtand will help you with things come up.
(16:27):
But also,I have a great employer, and have done
who recognizes the importanceof volunteering in your community.
So I think with some forward planning
and a bit of realism, that you'renot always going to get it right,
you can quite easilyfit this into your life.
(16:48):
Yeah. Perfect.
What challengeshave you faced in the role?
You've talked about how intense it can be.
How sort of emotional it can be.
But what what would you saythe main challenges of the role are?
And how have you dealt with them?
One of the biggest challenges that I facedin, in Be
(17:08):
the Magistrate is thatI became a magistrate at the age of 20.
And, you know, back then it was
it was a lot more unusual than itthat it is today.
And I'm being really openand honest, but it was a bit,
because of the unusual nature of it.
(17:28):
I did experience some prejudice,when I first started,
although that was from a minority.
Right.
But I definitely experiencedthe challenge of
why are you here?
What life experience do you have?
For example, which which was really
something that, you know,
(17:50):
I hadn't necessarily considereduntil I did and until I started.
But what was really,really good is that I'd had
a real supportive group around me
who helped me settle in and,
and kind of grow my confidence and,and find my voice.
Now, I think over time, the wider bench,
(18:13):
for me has been young enough.
You can't get away from seeing that.
I visibly look younger.
But I think they saw that youthand the fact that I have a different life
experience, and I had a different opinionon things that were happening,
and they started to see thatthat really wasn't a weakness.
That was actually a strength.
(18:36):
And Ithink what they started to realize is
I started adding to the conversation.
It was adding to the strengthof the decisions that were made
because I opened up,you know, a 20 year old mind
and everything that 20 year olds do
within the discussion.
And I think it was that early kindof experience that it was a challenge.
(19:00):
And whilst it was a personal challenge,
it taught me a lot about
the bench makeupand how that the city does
really strengthened by the,the end result in terms of justice.
And so.
Absolutely.
Have you found in your timeworking in the courts
(19:21):
that there are more youngerpeople joining?
And do you see that happening morethan when you first joined 20 years ago?
Or or is it still a
sort of certain agegroup of people that that apply?
Yeah.
So whenI first joined, it looked very different
(19:42):
than than what it looked today.
And I had some funny storieswhen I first joined
because I think people presumedI wasn't actually a magistrate.
A couple of instances told
I was sat on the wrong side of the bench.
Which is quite funny for me.
I took it quite lighthearted.
It was quite sweet.
(20:04):
I can't get away with that anymore.
Just to be really clear. So.
But, I think now when I look across
and I walk into, you know, retiring rooms,
if I sit with the panels that I sit with
today, more than ever,
the panel is lookingreflective of society.
(20:26):
There's young people.
There's people that are slightly older.
There are different parts of societywithin the bench.
They all come from differentbackgrounds, different ethnicities.
So I think it's a lot, lot better.
I mean, we've still got some way to go,you know,
(20:46):
but I, I look at thisthe difference and it's day and night,
I would say between when I first joinedand I was probably
the youngest and looked
the youngest by a very long way.
This is now,
there is a huge mix.
You look around the roomand you do have to.
(21:09):
You know what this is? Society.
I mean, this is exactly the melting pot
that we should have in herewith all different opinions.
So I think it's a lot different.
I would like to see it still go further.
And I think we should always striveto, to do better.
But it's a lot, lot different now. Yeah.
Yeah. Brilliant.
(21:29):
It sounds likesuch an invaluable experience that it.
That's really great that we're startingto see a much wider range of ages
and especially young people.
It it feels so invaluableto get in quite early, to be able
to grow their confidenceand grow their voices
in the ways that you've described and see.
And I thinkwhat's really interesting just on that is,
(21:50):
I think a lot of Manchester magistratesand men
and people that do not just trades,
I think they believe still todaythat, you know,
they're all quite older,all come from middle aged, you know,
middle class backgrounds,are both extremely well-educated,
must have come to do X,Y and Z in their careers.
(22:13):
Hey, what's really excitingand what I love about it is
I'm not just right nowto, in today's world, can come from
every background that you can imagine,and probably your listeners
have already spoken to a magistratewithout even realizing it.
So you know thatthat person that might have said to coffee
(22:33):
this morning, or the personthat was on the tell in the supermarket
over the weekend, or your local mechanicor that call center
worker when you're trying to sell,your internet, for example,
any of them
could be a magistrate,and some of them probably are.
And I think that's really importantfor people to remember.
(22:54):
Magistrates are not on a pedestal.
They're not something different.
They're just you and me and just people.
And I think the more we can getthat kind of psychological
thought going through our brains,the more important people
will realize will actually,I could do this.
And, you know,there is nothing stopping me applying.
(23:15):
Absolutely.
If somebody wanted to beginthe application
process, what advice do you have for them?
So the first thing I do and this wasn'tavailable when I joined, but it's great.
Now there's a there's a new website calledI Can Be a magistrate.
Decoder UK, I believe it is.
And that has some real great informationon it, videos
(23:37):
and various things you can look at.
So first and foremost I sayis go and have a look on the website.
It answered the loaded questions
that once you've donethat and once you've applied,
there's a couple of things I'dprobably say
the most important thingis don't change who you are.
So when you're going throughthe application process, just be yourself.
(24:01):
And because that's what we're looking foryou as an individual and and what
you bring to it to the melting pot,be clear on like how you think,
and not necessarily what you know,
as I as I mentioned,you don't need to be good with law.
So it's more about how you think.
And it's really helpfulif you think about examples
(24:23):
where you've, you know, be,
you've had a difficult decision to makeor you provided some judgment
and then go and visit a courtroom,and see what it's like.
And especiallyif you go to any court building
and you explain, you know, you want to bea magistrate, you've applied,
they'll look after you, that
(24:43):
they'll helpyou see the process that happens in court.
And then just be really open and curiousand grounded about yourself.
So during the process, they do ask yousome weird and wonderful questions,
that you might not be asked inlike everyday job interviews.
Just be open with kind of
(25:04):
trying to unpick yourself a little bit,
and, and just be open and honestabout what your thoughts are
because what they're looking foris, is like that real person.
Who cares about doing the right thing?
They're not looking for a cookie cutter,
versionof who you believe a magistrate is.
So that's probably my biggest advice
(25:25):
in terms of going through that applicationprocess.
Yeah. Fantastic.
Do you have a favorite partof a typical court day?
I think everybody would answer this in aslightly different way as a magistrate.
But there's one thing I,
I kind of really like, and that is
(25:45):
when as a panel, you reach a fair decision
and you then go in
and have the opportunityto explain that decision
to the court, and
it's the momentwhere you can see the court settle.
So up to that point where the decision isbeen argued, I suppose the,
(26:08):
you know, for and against there's athere can be a tenseness in the court room
once you've gone out and you come backand you provide that decision,
you can see the room settlebecause people, they might not agree
with your sentence or your decision,
but people understand why.
And how you come to reach that decision.
(26:30):
There's this all of a sudden there's a,
there's a sense of oh we understand that,that goes in the, into the courtroom.
And I think it's moments like that
that I actually really likebecause up to that point
there's been a lot of uncertaintyfor someone.
And now there is that certainty.
(26:52):
And I think that's what shows,you know, being a magistrate at their best
to come up and provide certainty,say where otherwise there wasn't.
Yeah.
So it's probably that part.
Oh the fantastic.
That's brilliant.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Oh thank you so much for having me.
It's been great.
(27:12):
So thank you.
Thanks again to Luke for their time.
For more information
on volunteering as a magistrate,you can check out the show notes below.
If you enjoyed the episode,we'd love to hear from you!
You can contact us on podcast at ProspectStack UK,
or you can leave us a reviewon Apple or Spotify.
Thank you, as always, for listening andgood luck on your journey to future you.
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