BRIGG PEOPLE CAN NOW APPLY TO BECOME MAGISTRATES BUT WON'T BE HEARING CASES IN OUR TOWN

People living in Brigg & district are welcome to apply to become magistrates as part of a new national campaign to recruit hundreds of them to help get to grips with a huge backlog of cases.
Brigg had its own courthouse on Wrawby Street for about 150 years (the building since converted into 'mews' housing).
We covered many criminal cases for the press in the early 1980s when the local court sat on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Later, in an effort to streamline the operation and improve efficiency (or cut costs?) cases were removed from Brigg and sent to Scunthorpe.
But even this sizeable town no longer merits a magistrates' court and Scunthorpe cases are now heard in Grimsby.
We have just followed the instructions currently being given for members of the public who are interested in applying to become magistrates.
The process begins by explaining: "You'll need to visit a magistrates' court at least twice to observe the proceedings. You can find magistrate courts in your area here..." We clicked the link provided and the list (below) appeared for DN20 8 (Brigg) indicating the 'nearest' courts to us.

 

 

Those locals who are still interested and have not been put off by the travelling distance, can register their intention by using this link...
Our own observations gained while covering criminal cases at Brigg Magistrates' Court 40 years ago support that belief that local knowledge can be useful for magistrates.
In the early 1980s, Brigg bench members included The Earl of Yarborough, Lt Col Roger Nelthorpe, Brian Taylor (later to become MBE), Reg Harrison, Mary Atkin, Dennis Wicks and Thora Foxton.
Cases they heard, and we covered for the press, included various motoring offences, burglaries, breaches of the peace, non-payment of the TV licence, and thefts, including shoplifting. More serious cases, such as robberies, would be committed for trial to the Crown Court.
 
PICTURED: Brigg's Victorian courthouse (to the right) next to the town's original police station (on the left) which was replaced in the late 1970s by the current one on Barnard Avenue. Image courtesy of Ken Harrison.