Brake and Burstow Have their Day in Court

9.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 19th May 2008

Tom Brake and Paul Burstow had their day in court today when they visited Sutton Magistrates' Court in Shotfield, Wallington.

Before and during the court's deliberations, they were briefed by Pat Cook, the Chairman of Sutton Magistrates' Bench and ex-Chairman Tony Kerr, about the way the court operates and the way the cases were being handled.

They witnessed court proceedings relating to a case of indecent exposure, the possession of class A drugs, a breach of bail conditions and theft from a garage.

Tom Brake said, "I am a great believer in local magistrates delivering local justice and was fascinated to watch how it operates in practice. It reinforced my belief that we need our local court."

Paul Burstow added, "It was good to see local justice in action. Sitting in the court, watching the Magistrates and Clerk go about their work, underlined for me why it is important to defend local courts."