Tom Seaward
@t_seaward
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newsdesk @TheSun , ex @TheOxfordMail , @swindonadver
London, England
Joined March 2013
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Good morning from Oxford Crown Court, where a judge has just been told to 'suck ya mum' by a defendant. 🍭🍭
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🧵A thread on cycling and Oxford🚴
A day before Ling Felce’s death on The Plain, I watched a former Witney mayor who killed a bike-keen grandfather on the roads walk from court. 1/
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Top judge Melissa Clarke booked - and paid for - an ice cream van to give out free ice creams to Oxford Crown and County Court staff this lunchtime.🍦
📷 Pictured: Kim Payne of City Ices with a Mr Whippy
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One of the finest introductions to a jury speech I have heard:
"I won't bore you with a long speech for two reasons. Firstly, I can bore you with a short one..."
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Getting name checked by the Secret Barrister is, for a court reporter, a bit like getting a shout out from Ronaldinho. Prouder of this than the athletics badges my mum sewed on my shorts in primary school. 🏃♂️
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On the way back into Blackbird Leys I see someone’s defaced the ‘Welcome to Oxford’ sign. The claim it is a ‘cycling city’ is crossed out and in caps has been added: “One month, two dead cyclists.” 7/
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Clerks spent two days desperately trying to find barrister to prosecute domestic violence trial - without success.
Trial vacated for the second time by judge who lamented the 'desperate' state of affairs.
@JohnMcNamara_
@TheCriminalBar
@Barristerblog
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Watching the resident judge at Swindon Crown Court stalk through the public waiting area (in full robes and black mask) and shout "MASK" at a barrister has very much given me life today.
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Eagle-eyed judge👨⚖️ spots what copper, the defendant, CPS and two barristers have missed: that the def couldn't have been out burgling in September 2021 - as he was enjoying the various delights of HMP Bullingdon.
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Absolutely mad.
Man in mags for a statutory declaration on a 3-year-old speeding offence.
He points at the papers that have been printed off, telling the district judge: "That's not my car, it's not my address - I've never lived in London - and that's not my phone number."
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Yesterday was my final shift on
@TheOxfordMail
If you're a reader, thank you for letting me bring you the news from the courts.
And if you're the editor, thank you for letting me spend so much time not being in the newsroom but instead being where I'm happiest - out and about
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This man is very concerned about the message coming from the counter protest
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Her dad said: "Cyclists should not have to share road space with other vehicles.
"If there is now increased momentum in the campaign to create more cycle-only paths around Oxford, then that can only be for the good."
There's a raised bike path now. It's a start. 11.5/
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Swindon Town case (Standing v Power) interrupted by member of the public showing porn on Teams chat.
@swindonadver
#STFC
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3/11/20 My journey starts on the bypass. Samantha Blackborow, 35, was in the cycle path on the Horspath Driftway near Aldi. The driver of the Veolia bin lorry ‘didn’t see’ her in his mirrors before he pulled into the retail park. She died at the scene. 5/
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Welcome to Oxford Crown Court where, in the case of an absent defendant called Brain, her advocate has told the judge:
It's been said many times before but today I literally am brainless.
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Barristers and court staff getting their just desserts 🍮 as judge tells Oxford Crown Court (at 12.54pm) that he's going to deal with the next sentencing after lunch at 2pm.
"Or 2.15pm, in fact. We all deserve pudding," he adds.
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17/2/14 Mini plant worker Derek Measor, 56, was hit by a Nissan Micra on Watlington Rd, near Garsington.
His wife and two sons paid tribute in the days following his death: “He never held a grudge and was always somebody who everyone could lean on.” 6/
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Can't believe I'm writing this - but if you find yourself in court it's always a good idea not to start vaping 🌬️ in front of the judge...especially if you are *checks notes* appearing via prison video link. 📺🤦
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If you can spare the time, I would be really interested in learning two things from anyone who’s interacted with this thread
1. Do you feel safe cycling in Oxford (and if not, why not)?
2. What would make you feel safer (and where)?
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This morning, I set off on my bike. Call it a Sunday ride, call it a pilgrimage, call it what you like.
But after this week I wanted to see for myself the places where cyclists lost their lives.
It took more than four hours. 4/
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Rachel's mum, Doreen, campaigned for bike safety. She wrote in 2008: “We have lost the light of our life, but no-one seems to care one iota about preventing another tragedy.”
Read her letter, it's one of the best I've read.
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Judge Pringle refuses to extend custody time limits in *arson* case, turning down
@CPSUK
pros argument that the delay caused by barrister strike amounts to 'good and sufficient cause' to extend CTLs.
@TheCriminalBar
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Meanwhile, on the Google reviews for Swindon Magistrates’ Court...
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1/3/22 Ling Felce, 35, an Oxford researcher, was killed when her bike was involved in a collision with a tipper lorry on The Plain. Her husband said she would ‘live on through the love she has given us and so many others’. 20/
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18/4/07 Worcester College student Tsz Fok died when he was crushed by a bin lorry at the junction of Broad Street and Park Road. The driver was fined £500 and given an eight month ban for careless driving. Tsz was just 22. 16/
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I grew up in Cambridge and have cycled for as long as I can remember.
As a teenager (see awful picture below 📷
@elli_thomas
) I was bad – I didn’t wear a helmet.
In Oxford, I do. Why? Because – simply – I don’t feel nearly as safe. 3/
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14/3/09 A 65-year-old cyclist, whose name isn’t recorded, died when he was involved in a collision with a van on the Eastern bypass – near Sainsbury’s. This is as close as I dare get. 8/
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9/5/17 Claudia Comberti, 31, was studying for a geography DPhil and was described by friends as having an infectious ‘zest for life’. She was killed when she fell into the path of a bus on Botley Road. The driver had no time to avert the crash. 11/
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The only reason you’re reading about this is because a local paper was there to report the hearing (and was there from the first hearing in the magistrates’ court). Another reason to support regional court reporting.
Our story:
Earlier this year we reported that two women were being taken to court over illegal abortions.
Today we reveal that the CPS has now dropped the charge against one of the women, a young mother, after a judge said he was ‘flabbergasted’ she was in court:
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The information in this thread came from the CycleStreets website () and contemporaneous articles in
@TheOxfordMail
and
@BBCOxford
.
My route was broadly dictated by the city boundary (see map below cc
@OrdnanceSurvey
). It claimed to be 30 miles.
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28/10/2019 John Howes, 58, was cycling home from Nuffield College, where he worked as a porter, when he was hit from behind on the B4044 Eynsham Road, near Farmoor, by drug driver Trevor Long. 10/
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30 hours later, I was on a police cordon at The Plain.
And 36 hours after that I was in another courtroom watching a man face charges of causing death by careless driving. 2/
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Welcome to the crown court, where the judge is wondering whether a defendant is 'mute by visitation of God🙏 or mute by malice🗯️'.
"I've not encountered this procedure before," says prosecutor.
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8/2/22 A female cyclist, 40s, who has not been named died after she was involved in a crash with a lorry outside Oxford Parkway station during rush hour. Scores attended a vigil at the scene of her death. 15/
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24/6/2013 Mark Orchard, 53, died in hospital. He had been found in Brumcombe Lane, near Bayworth, the day before. He was an ‘adored husband, special grampy and beloved son’. 9/
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28/10/11 Church rector’s assistant Joanna Braithwaite, 34, died after she was struck by a cement mixer lorry at the junction of Polstead Rd and Woodstock Rd. 13/
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#STFC
Judge Thompsell orders:
⚽Ban on Lee Power putting club into administration continues. LP not allowed to sell without consent of Standing/Morfuni (Axis)
⚽Lee Power has until April 30 to provide due diligence docs to allow Axis to make bid to buy club.
@AdverSport
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Defendant, representing himself, says of prison: "It's not my scene."
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The van driver was jailed for five years and four months in 2020.
John’s widow, Lucy, said in a statement read out at court: “Without John there is very little point in going on but I must.”
(Picture of another crash site on same road) 10.5/
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11/5/00 Rachel Barker, 30, was killed when her bike was struck by a lorry on the Botley Road, near railway bridge. (For some reason my phone hasn't saved the picture) 12/
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26/9/21 Brookes lecturer Jennifer Wong, 32, was killed in a crash with an HGV-mounted crane at the junction of Headley Way and London Road, Headington. A pre-inquest review is expected to take place later this month. 19/
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5/8/00 Isobell Beckett, 45, died when she was struck by a single decker bus on the High Street. It was just after 8am on a Saturday morning. 17/
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Near where she died there is a beautiful carpet of crocuses and what I think is a hawthorn tree (?), just coming into blossom.
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2. You can read the judge's comments because I was (a) in court (b) asked for automatic reporting restrictions to be lifted, which the judge allowed. Shows the importance of local newspapers investing in court reporting and not just doing the 'big' sentencings and trials
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JUDGE: Someone said ‘wagga wan’, something like that. What does that mean?
WITNESS: It means ‘hello’ in slang
JUDGE: Is it a polite word or is it a rude word?
WITNESS: Not polite or rude. In Jamaica it’s how [...] people greet each other
JUDGE: 🧐 You’re not from Jamaica
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I was physically shaking with anger when I saw this in my email inbox this week.
Josef Mengele was responsible for the policy that led to the murder of six million people. Whatever you think of the LTNs, to liken it to genocide is beyond offensive.
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26/5/04 St Catz student Emilie Harris, 20, fell off her bike and into the path of an oncoming bus outside what is now the Big Society pub in Cowley Road. The driver, who was talking to an off-duty colleague, swerved but was unable to avoid the cyclist. 18/
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20/5/16 Emmanuel Jacob, 42, was on his way home from a shift at the BP garage when he collided with an HGV on the Wolvercote roundabout. His death was a ‘tragic accident’, the coroner later said. 14/
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Her parents said in 2012, when the man driving the lorry was given a suspended sentence: “There is no way to express in words our sadness at the death of our daughter Joanna, she was full of joy and hope, and our world is a darker place without her.”
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A sad case in the divorce courts today, on the eve of Valentine’s Day: Love vs Love.
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Long’s barrister told the judge: “He [is] so sorry for what happened, he knows he has caused misery and if there was any way he could take it back he would do, but of course tragically he can’t.” 10.5/
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Oxford’s first Jewish Lord Mayor Elise Benjamin reacts to Jeremy Mogford’s comments.
@TheOxfordMail
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Swindon South MP and Justice Secretary
@RobertBuckland
sings Danny Boy at the opening of Swindon Women’s Aid’s new charity shop. I’m not sure what’s happening.
@swindonadver
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📞 “999 what’s your emergency?”
Caller: Someone has killed the vibe.
“We’ll send you an…”
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Here she is explaining what the campaign is all about.
Petition here:
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Court of Appeal...
Lord Justice Holroyde thanks the person who has left a cough sweet on his bench, telling barrister Barry White (yes): "If you indulge me I shall suck on it. It gives you this benefit: I shall be silent for a few minutes."
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Waiting patiently for barristers with three degrees, brains the size of a planet and letters before and after their names to do very simple sums to work out someone’s jail time minus credit for guilty plea.
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@JohnMcNamara_
@TheCriminalBar
@Barristerblog
Two things of note
1. The Ministry of Justice claims there's 'no evidence' of a shortage of barristers affecting cases getting on - a claim so surprising I called the press office to check their line
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Always meet your Twitter heroes, folks.
A real treat to meet
@t_seaward
… we were in
@QuodRestaurant
of course. Long admired his reporting from Oxford Crown Court … though he would clearly make a great barrister too !
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Judge tells lawyers they can’t call on custody cases as the lights en route from the cells are broken.
“We’ve got a slight problem with the electricity downstairs. Health and safety issues,” he explains. “Even if there were torches available.”
@CourtsIdle
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Six books read since Christmas Day, including the annual rereading of Persuasion. Zero telly, very little social media, large quantities of alcohol. Now back to Oxford for the New Year’s Day shift. 🚂
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The view from a Banbury man who’s headed for the Broad St protest
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To top off a less than great week, during which I've had a stinking cold and been called most names under the sun, someone's tried to steal my bike, wrecked the rear forks and written it off. 👍
Thanks, February. Waste man T. S. Eliot was wrong; you're the cruellest month.
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Perishingly cold, stunningly beautiful and a crumbling facade. This much, at least, Oxford and I have in common today.
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@TheOxfordMail
Being a local newspaper reporter is the best job you can do in your 20s. If I had one tip for any budding reporter, it's to say yes to everything.
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🔥🔥 JUDGE: When I first looked at this case and read through it I couldn’t figure out what on earth the defence was going to be.
And having read the defence statement I was still no better informed.
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We all know his case is going to be adjourned for seven days, might as well do it administratively then fill me in afterwards.
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No longer a trainee.
Special congratulations go to the four award winners who achieved top marks in the
#NQJ
exams! Find out more at
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Scenes at Oxford City Council, as
@XR_Oxford
member start singing - in harmony - in reaction to Cllr Ed Turner’s response to their calls for OCC to axe its Barclays current account.
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Who in their right mind would want to stay in bed/go walking/visit the pub/watch telly when the alternative is going to the first sitting of Oxford Magistrates’ Court of 2023…on their day off? 🤷♀️
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Walking into a sentencing hearing half way through, trying to be unobtrusive and instead banging the doors, dropping your bags, spilling ink everywhere and accidentally playing Radio 4 on your phone.
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A month to go until I give my first talk to the Women's Institute (I think this might be a career milestone) and I'm starting to think my title might not be in keeping with the vibe. 🧐🧐
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Final feature filed (ish).
Thanks very much for reading my stories this year.
Particular thanks to the staff at Oxford’s courts, the judges whose acerbic asides keep me in a job, and the long-suffering PRs at the CPS and the police who put up with my requests for pix.
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The scene at Carl Benjamin’s campaign event in Swindon town centre. The
@UKIP
MEP candidate is yet to arrive...
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The strike may be over (for now) but in Oxford today it was a return to the thorny old issue of there being NO BARRISTERS to defend a case. Trial adjourned for seven - yes, seven - months.
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@Dr_D_Robertson
Case reopened (he'd been found guilty in absence under single justice procedure), NG plea entered and off for trial - and, you'd hope, the police to review the case.
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On the list for Swindon Magistrates' Court this morning...
"Attempted to steal unknown items, of a value unknown belonging to an unknown person"
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A year since the death of the family dog, border collie Bertie. Still think about him most days. 🙁🐶
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Good afternoon from Oxford Crown Court, where the jury has been quoted Shaggy, Skepta and Ecclesiastes 1 : 15.
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How do you clean paint left by Just Stop Oil protesters? With a diesel powered pressure washer.
@TheOxfordMail
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Bit the bullet and bought a proper camera lens. Expect your Twitter feed to be full of lot more pictures of sassy pigeons sitting on Oxford crown court from now on… 📸
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Eighty singers have spent 16 hours performing 183 works by choral music giant William Byrd at
@marymagsoxford
over the past 24 hours.
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A brief stop off in Swindon to see the former love of my life - Swindon Magistrates’ Court.
@swindonadver
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⚖️Judge Thompsell: “I’m quite sure this is an important institution within the life of Swindon. It means a lot to a lot of people and that is not something any of us should be endangering."
More in tomorrow's
@swindonadver
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Congratulations to the newly-minted Recorder (part time judge) who this morning bailed a defendant in a dangerous dogs case with conditions not to go to Barking.
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