I did my week of work experience with Paul Byrnes who is a senior council barrister. The week was split in two due to the snow storms we had. The first day I went into the four courts and sat in court room two. I watched the court of appeal and different barristers requesting things for their cases to the judge. It was very busy and fast paced. The court room was packed and there was an excitement and atmosphere in the room.
On the second and third day I sat in on the john tight case. It was a shocking case but most interesting. It was interesting to hear how argued the case and how he was prosecuted. It was almost surreal to see him in front of me and then listen to what was being said. He looked like a normal guy, I would never have suspected him of anything if I saw him in the street. It was a very difficult case, it could've gone either way. I was talking to the prosecuting barrister about it while the jury were making their decision and he really had no idea if john would be found guilty or not. Turns out he was and he got sentenced to life, which is 15 years in Ireland.
I missed the next three days due to the weather but two weeks later I went back into the courts to finish my week. This time I sat in on an insanity plea. The woman was already seen unfit for trial but she admitted to murder in the police interviews. The defending barrister was trying to argue that she was to mentally unstable for these interviews in the first place and if these interviews were not used as evidence then there would not be enough evidence to convict her. It was the first time that this was happening and again it could go either way. The judge is still out making his decision. It'll be very interesting to see what he decides.