Family and Friends Forum

Hi Blackhound,

I would say that this is the case. In our experience, my son's case was heard in his home city but because he was staying with us for mental health reasons at the time of sentencing, the broad location was mentioned in court and so the case was reported in all our local press. Why our address came into it, I don't really know as technically he was still living at his own home address just staying with us, but it did, and I was so angry and upset.

Some area thrive on these types of cases, also depends on if a slow news day or not?

I have a friend who lived in a rural area outside a small town. Her husband was charged with contact offences and appeared at the local small town Court for the bail and plea hearings. Yes, everyone in the area knew about the case but nobody said a bad word to either of them. They were both well known and well regarded and I think therefore people saw more than the offending behaviour. However the Sheriff ( we are in Scotland) thought it unfair for the sentencing to be heard locally and transferred it to the city 40 miles away. Unfortunately that Court, with a different Sheriff, handed down a much harsher sentence than anyone had expected and the report appeared in the press to a much wider readership than would otherwise have been the case.

Sometimes one can be more anonymous in a city but that is not always a good thing.