This is a style guide for writing court reports, setting out how details such as dates, numbers and so on should be written. Most mainstream print and online publications have a style guide. The BBC’s is online.
You MUST follow the rules set out in the Quick tips section: your work will be marked against it. You are advised to read all the advice below.
Quick tips
Don’t start with…
The defendant’s name, unless they’re famous. Give a generic description, such as “A Coventry student who…” But you do need the name high up the story: generally where you set out age, address, charge and plea.
Also, don’t start with…
The date. It’s never the most interesting part of a news story. It can even make a story seem… well, dated.
Include the interesting stuff
You’re telling a story, not writing up the official record of the case. It has to be accurate, but it can also be interesting.
Paraphrase
Except when quoting, you don’t have to use the exact words given in court (as long as your report is accurate): put it into simpler, brisker language.
Say ‘said’, not ‘stated’
Nearly always, it’s best to say ‘said’. It’s simplest. But for variety, “the court heard”, “…told the court”, and “the jury heard” are useful phrases.
…unless it’s a statement
If you’re quoting a statement, then write something like: In a statement read out in court, the victim said: “Quote”. (or said that… reported speech)
Mr Smith, aged 20, of
… is correct. Commas needed either side of “aged 20” in this situation. Mr Smith, 20, is also fine.
Mrs Smith, or just Smith?
Until they’re formally guilty, they deserve the courtesy title. Once they’re convicted, just the surname: Smith, not Mr Smith. Incidentally, if in doubt regarding a woman’s courtesy title, go with Ms – but if you can, check.
Which name?
Never refer to a defendant, witness, victim or official solely by their first name. An exception would be made for children, but it is unlikely they could be named.
Addresses
In giving the defendant’s address, it is usual to name the street and perhaps the suburb (in a town or city), but NEVER the house name or number. Only give the defendant’s address: never the street addresses of witnesses or victims.
Magistrates’ Court
Apostrophe needed after “magistrates”, as in: Ian Campbell appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court and…
Cars
Give the colour and make, not the registration
Dates
15 January 2019 is correct; January 15 (without the year) is fine; not “the 15thof January, 2019”.
The defence, or “Mr Smith, defending, said…”
Not “the defender”, who is a comic book superhero (probably)
Past tense
Don’t say the defendant is sorry; say he was sorry
…ordered to pay £100 damages
Not, “£100 for damages”
One, five, ten, 11, 15, 33, 120 are correct
Numbers are written as words up to ten (nearly always)
14 days to pay
Don’t bother with this. It’s standard so not worth reporting
Not ‘trialled’
…but “tried”. It’s wrong to say someone was trialled at court. Say he was tried.
Not ‘pled’
…but “pleaded”. Students often say a defendant pled guilty. In England, they would have pleaded guilty. Pled is American (apparently).
How did they plead? You must say!
Always say whether the defendant pleaded guilty or not guilty. This is A MUST if it’s an ongoing trail and you’re reporting the prosecution evidence: you have to achieve balance and you can’t do this if you don’t say the defendant denies the charges (if that’s the case).
The case continues
If reporting an ongoing trial, you must make it clear – for reasons of balance and fairness – that there is more evidence to come. Usually, do this by ending your report with the words, The case continues. Alternatively, you might say the hearing was adjourned to… so that… (if that’s the case).
Further style advice
Naming
In England, the convention is to name the defendant in a case, except in very rare circumstances where anonymity has been granted – where national security is an issue, for example.
Most editors would say there is little point in running a court story if one cannot name the person it relates to. Much of the interest is lost – especially in a local publication. A name makes the story more real and human.
There is also a defamation issue: if the defendant is properly identified, ideally with name, age, street (but not house number) and occupation, this reduces the risk of defaming someone with similar characteristics. People can sue for defamation even where no name is given.
Broadcast reports often give minimal identifying detail beyond, say, name, age and town. This is for reasons of brevity, but it does carry a small risk.
We are aware students attending Coventry magistrates’ court on one occasion were told they should not name defendants. Legally, this is wrong.
We call defendants by courtesy titles until convicted – they are innocent until proven guilty. So “Mr Smith” during the trial, just “Smith” once found guilty.
Generally, don’t start a story with someone’s name unless they are famous, or at least prominent locally (“Tory leader Fred Smith…”).
Accuracy
…is vital, and a legal requirement. Several students reported the case of Delia, a woman who assaulted police officers, but gave different spellings of her name. This could land a reporter in serious legal trouble. The names of defendants are published on a list outside the court; at Coventry, it is at the bottom of the stairs.
Impartiality
Nothing you write should suggest that something is good, bad, better, worse, unless you are directly quoting. So do not say “hefty fine” – hefty is subjective – or “not punished harshly” (also subjective), and be wary of saying one offence is worse than another if this is only your own opinion (though clearly and legally, murder is worse than shoplifting). You may well see newspaper reports that are clearly not impartial, but only once a person has been found guilty. Up to that point, they abide by the rules of fairness. You are on a BJTC accredited course and the requirement is that you report impartially, just as a broadcaster would.
Do not speculate, as in “may have been the reason for a more severe sentence”. It’s not our job to guess, especially in court reports.
Attribution
While a trial is ongoing, do not report evidence as established fact; you need to ATTRIBUTE it. This is less critical after someone has been convicted and sentenced.
For instance, don’t say: The woman was aggressive and bit the officers Instead, say:
The court heard the woman was aggressive and bit the officers; or James Smith, prosecuting, said the woman was… The jury was told the woman was… …and bit the officers, the jury heard.
Even after conviction, it is wise to attribute anything contentious or potentially defamatory so it is clear it was said in court, and therefore protected.
Magistrates sit in the magistrates’ court
Coventry Magistrates’ Court, or the magistrates’ court – because it is the court of the magistrates (plural, so it’s s’). In capitals when you are using the court’s proper name, lower case when you are just saying “the magistrates” or “the magistrates’ court”.
Magistrates are not judges
A number of students have referred to “the judge” in reports of magistrates’ court proceedings. Nearly always, the people judging cases in the magistrates’ court are magistrates, not judges (and this was true in the hearings we attended). Sometimes a circuit judge will sit in the magistrates’ court.
Judges are highly experienced, qualified lawyers who sit in the higher courts, such as Crown court; magistrates are members of the public who have some training, but are usually not qualified lawyers. This is explained in the website briefing on court visits: https://m42mc.wordpress.com/law-basics/court-visits/
Is it a trial?
A hearing is only a trial if a defendant pleads not guilty and the case has to be ‘tried’; or if they plead guilty but some of the facts are disputed, in which case there is a trial of the facts (to decide what the sentence should be).
Community orders
Don’t say someone was given 60 hours’ work – say they were ordered to do 60 hours’ work. If someone gives me 60 hours’ work, I’ll say thank you and get them to sort out my garden. Note the apostrophe (an hour’s work, 60 hours’ work, work for 60 hours).
Layout
If you are writing a newspaper or online piece, then you need newspaper-style paragraphs: generally about 20-25 words per paragraph, but they can be shorter and on complex stories, sometimes have to be longer. BBC News website generally has one sentence per paragraph.
If you are writing a radio voice piece, there’s no absolute rule on paragraphs but generally a cue is written in one paragraph – one or two sentences, following by the reporter’s name (“Tom Olde-Hack reports). Then we should be given the duration etc.
Example:
Catchline: Victim VP [note: VP for Voice Piece]
A man has been found guilty of murdering Coventry teenager Sarah Victim. A judge at Coventry Crown Court told Tim Sadist that he should serve at least 20 years in prison. Tom Old-Hack reports.
GO TO: Victim VP IN: Tim OUT: given justice DUR: 25”
Tim Sadist showed no remorse as the guilty verdict was recorded. The court heard (etc etc)… MORE SCRIPT…. Family said they had been given justice.
Dates
…for print and online are written 23 November 2016 or November 23; not November 23rd or even June the tenth.
Dates for broadcast copy are written in full so the news reader does not stumble: November the twenty ninth, of the twenty ninth of November (the year can be in digits).
Don’t start the story with a date – especially if it is some way in the past. The date is never the most interesting part of a story and starting with it tells the reader “this is an old story – don’t bother reading it”. There are exceptions when writing features.
Intros
….should tell us what the story is (A man has admitted doing X, or A woman slapped her husband with a fish after he stayed out all night angling, a court heard). Don’t start with the defendant’s name and address and other “five Ws” details, except perhaps in a one- paragraph report. Don’t start with the date.
The five Ws
…(who, what, where) are important but it is usually impossible to fit them all into the intro and still tell people the interesting part of the story. Give just as much who- what-why information as you need for the story to make sense; give the fine detail in the following paragraphs.
Its and it’s: possessives (Smith’s car) take an apostrophe before the “s”; this is not true of pronouns (his, hers, ours, yours, theirs). So “its” means “belonging to it” and “it’s” means “it is”.
Numbers
are generally written out as words up to ten or eleven, and thereafter in digits (one, nine, 16, 600). Exceptions might be a hundred, a thousand, a million: in headlines, 16m for 16 million. If you can, check the style guide for your chosen publication. The BBC one is online.
Ages
Correct ways to write ages for text outlets include:
Smith, 27,
Smith (27)
27-year-old Smith
Smith, aged 27
Incorrect ways to write ages for text outlets include:
Smith aged 27
Smith, age 27,
Smith, aged twenty 7,
27 year old Smith,
27 year-old Smith,
Smith, who is 27-years-old,
Read your copy aloud
This will highlight any errors such as clumsy repetitions. Do this especially if you have written a broadcast script. In radio newsrooms, you often hear news readers reading aloud at their desks.
Quotes
The assessment brief (1003MAPA) says students should use quotes wherever possible. In court reports these are unlikely to come from interviews, but you can quote what is said in a hearing by the magistrates, the lawyers, witnesses and defendants. Quotes lift a story and make them more human: for a good mark, try to incorporate them.
In most news media, quotes are introduced with a colon, not a comma. The identity of the speaker comes before the quote so it is clear who is speaking (He said: “Blah…”, or Mr Jackson said: “Blah…”).
Close quotes at the end of a paragraph unless the quote continues in the next paragraph, in which case you must not close quotes until the end of the quote; use open-quote marks at the start of each paragraph to indicate you are still quoting (unless you’re not).
Titles
In the news media, Mr, Mrs and Dr generally don’t have a full stop (Dr. Wrong) in news media (Dr Right).
Fines
If you lump together fines, costs and other penalties, you still need to tell us what the actual fine was. “Total fines” is okay as long as, at some point, you break down what the individual fines were (if there was more than one charge). Total fines cannot include costs – they are not fines.
If you say someone was fined £50 for each count, and the total fine was £275, then it suggests you have not got your figures quite right. Accuracy is VITAL in court reporting.
You cannot be “fined” compensation, say. You are fined, and/or ordered to pay costs/compensation. The punishment is the fine; everything else is the defendant’s contribution to the costs caused by offending.
Fines, costs and compensation are different
The fine is the real punishment; for every kind of offence there is a range of fines that can be issued (upper and lower amounts), depending on the seriousness of the individual offence and whether the defendant has offended before.
Costs are a contribution to the cost of bringing the case; it will not meet the full cost of prosecution.
Compensation is paid directly to victims, and is not a “fine”.
You might lump the total payment together in an intro (“A woman who refused to pick up a MacDonald’s wrapper paid a heavy price: £3 for a burger, and a total of £800 in fines and costs.”). BUT you must give an accurate breakdown of fines, costs and compensation.
Factual points
You must tell us which court you are reporting from. Tell us the charges. Did the defendant plead guilty or not?
Give is the key facts: where was the crime committed? How was the person caught? These all make the story more interesting, and provide context.
Colour and race
Do not say a person was black, white, Asian or anything else of that kind unless it is specifically relevant. In a race-related case, it might be; in a shoplifting case, it is unlikely to be relevant. The Editors’ Code and Ofcom address this.
Does my story make sense?
A good tip is to show your story to someone else and see if they can tell you, in their own words, what happened. It will show you whether the facts are clear, or whether there is missing information.
Legal reminders
In an active case, we can say that bail was granted or refused but cannot say why it was refused, because this might cast the defendant in a bad light (“…because he might strike again” clearly tells a future jury he’s dodgy). This is clear prejudice to a fair trial. See the Contempt of Court briefing under Law Basics at http://www.m42mc.wordpress.com
If a trial is ongoing you must be balanced. That means you must say the defendant denies the charges (if true). You must finish the report of an ongoing trial by saying, The case continues.
Never reveal that someone is a victim of a sex offence or even an alleged sex offence – regardless of whether their claim went to court. The same goes for victims of human trafficking and female genital mutilation. People under 18 have automatic anonymity in the youth court and may well have anonymity in the adult courts (if an order has been made).
Don’t bring in material from outside the hearing unless you make it very clear that you are doing so.
Writing style – general
This exercise is intended to test your court reporting and engagement with media law and ethics, and we want you to focus on that. Even so, you might find these style points helpful
Be interesting. You are telling a story, not making a formal report of court proceedings for the official record, so start with the most interesting point of the story and give us all the interesting bits high up the copy.
Use simple language. Don’t say “a charitable organisation”; say “a charity”. Don’t say “given a fine”; say “fined”.
Be direct. Don’t say: “To find a suitable punishment, the magistrates asked what the defendant’s employment situation was. She said that she was unemployed. As a result, the court imposed a community order because it was felt she would not be able to pay a fine.”
Instead, say: “The defendant was ordered to do unpaid work because she was unemployed and could not pay a fine.”
Quotes (from lawyers or witnesses): can add emotion, or allow you to include subjective comments you cannot make yourself as an impartial reporter (though you still have to be fair and balanced).
You may have received individual feedback saying the latest information – usually a fine, or finding of guilt or whatever – should be in the intro. This is generally good advice, but there are times when you might need to deviate from it: for instance, if the sentence is to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community work, it is difficult to say this in the intro and still say what the offence was. Use your judgement: what is the most important and/or interesting aspect of the story? Start with that, as long as it’s not old news. If you can’t say the outcome in the intro, get it high up the story.
Find an example
If you need to look at a court report to see how it’s done, go to news.google.co.uk and use the search team (in quotes) “court heard”. If that only throws up ongoing cases, try searching for “fined” or “jailed”.
This will only give you print and online-style reports. For broadcast, you’ll have to watch/listen to a news programme or bulletin. You should be doing this routinely anyway: you can’t study Journalism without engaging with the news.
Media law matters (and so do ethics) 