4 ms·

> I was an expert witness for a terrorism case in the UK - the guy was convicted - and nothing about it ever surfaced in the media. Can you give us a rough ide

> I was an expert witness for a terrorism case in the UK - the guy was convicted - and nothing about it ever surfaced in the media. Can you give us a rough idea why that trial was keept a secret from the public?

foldr 8y ago
I don't believe there have ever been fully secret trials in the UK. In camera sessions with secret evidence have been held in a handful of terror cases. The more likely explanation is just that nothing was being kept secret, and the trial wasn't deemed newsworthy.
- mike_hearn 8y ago
  That's right. I don't think there was any gag orders or anything. The trial wasn't secret. I certainly didn't have to sign anything committing me to secrecy, which is why I'm willing to mention it now. My contact at the police just asked me not to blog about the details, as a friendly courtesy. It just didn't make it to the press. My guess is that court case -> media transmission is not 100% reliable as we might imagine. The police wanted it kept quiet for the usual reasons. There's some amount of luck involved in foiling any crime, especially before it happens, and when the details of a trial are broadcast it necessarily implies teaching future criminals how their predecessors were caught. The police don't like that, it just makes their jobs harder.
- pjc50 8y ago
  Well, there were the "Diplock courts". But yes: it does seem that the newspapers have no interest in reporting actual convicted terrorists. Which is very strange given how they sensationalise the threat of terrorism.
  - zentiggr 8y ago
    Not at all strange - convicted terrorists convince people that the threat is being met. The threat of unknown terrorists keeps everyone anxious and biases towards granting more police powers in order to curb those unmet threats. PsychOps 101.
  - Angostura 8y ago
    Umm, I see quite a lot of reporting of it. Its just on page 7 usually since it comes down to a bloke being arrested and being found guilty of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Not very newsworthy.
- tialaramex 8y ago
  One of my practices is to periodically use a day or two off work to attend court. I've sat in various sessions of a magistrates' court (low seriousness offences, shoplifting, maybe a drunken fight at most) and the conveniently adjacent crown court (rape, fraud by impersonation, lots of drug dealing). I never saw a reporter even once. The courts are set up to allow a local journalist to cover them, but there's no money in it unless the defendant is famous. Usually I was the only person who wasn't essential to the mechanics of the court, in the fraud trial and some of the magistrates' stuff there were family there to support the defendant but never anybody else. Your friends and indeed family are probably not going to take the day off work to attend your rape trial. So that's worth knowing...
  - 1337biz 8y ago
    I am intrigued. Are the sessions publicly listed or do you attend them more or less randomly?
    - foldr 8y ago
      https://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/crown-court-lists.php https://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/crown-court...
    - tialaramex 8y ago
      There are listings an adjacent post links but I don't pick and choose. The staff at a court will tell you e.g. that Court #4 is done for the day, or it's doing a bunch of calendar management which you might find tedious. I guess you'd want to plan at least somewhat if you have to travel a long way to attend, for me it's just across the city.

foldr 8y ago

I don't believe there have ever been fully secret trials in the UK. In camera sessions with secret evidence have been held in a handful of terror cases. The more likely explanation is just that nothing was being kept secret, and the trial wasn't deemed newsworthy.

mike_hearn 8y ago
That's right. I don't think there was any gag orders or anything. The trial wasn't secret. I certainly didn't have to sign anything committing me to secrecy, which is why I'm willing to mention it now. My contact at the police just asked me not to blog about the details, as a friendly courtesy. It just didn't make it to the press. My guess is that court case -> media transmission is not 100% reliable as we might imagine. The police wanted it kept quiet for the usual reasons. There's some amount of luck involved in foiling any crime, especially before it happens, and when the details of a trial are broadcast it necessarily implies teaching future criminals how their predecessors were caught. The police don't like that, it just makes their jobs harder.
pjc50 8y ago
Well, there were the "Diplock courts". But yes: it does seem that the newspapers have no interest in reporting actual convicted terrorists. Which is very strange given how they sensationalise the threat of terrorism.
- zentiggr 8y ago
  Not at all strange - convicted terrorists convince people that the threat is being met. The threat of unknown terrorists keeps everyone anxious and biases towards granting more police powers in order to curb those unmet threats. PsychOps 101.
- Angostura 8y ago
  Umm, I see quite a lot of reporting of it. Its just on page 7 usually since it comes down to a bloke being arrested and being found guilty of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Not very newsworthy.
tialaramex 8y ago
One of my practices is to periodically use a day or two off work to attend court. I've sat in various sessions of a magistrates' court (low seriousness offences, shoplifting, maybe a drunken fight at most) and the conveniently adjacent crown court (rape, fraud by impersonation, lots of drug dealing). I never saw a reporter even once. The courts are set up to allow a local journalist to cover them, but there's no money in it unless the defendant is famous. Usually I was the only person who wasn't essential to the mechanics of the court, in the fraud trial and some of the magistrates' stuff there were family there to support the defendant but never anybody else. Your friends and indeed family are probably not going to take the day off work to attend your rape trial. So that's worth knowing...
- 1337biz 8y ago
  I am intrigued. Are the sessions publicly listed or do you attend them more or less randomly?
  - foldr 8y ago
    https://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/crown-court-lists.php https://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/crown-court...
  - tialaramex 8y ago
    There are listings an adjacent post links but I don't pick and choose. The staff at a court will tell you e.g. that Court #4 is done for the day, or it's doing a bunch of calendar management which you might find tedious. I guess you'd want to plan at least somewhat if you have to travel a long way to attend, for me it's just across the city.