TAVISTOCK College's year 9 gifted and talented group went to see the law in action at Plymouth Magistrates' Court recently as part of their provision directed at raising career aspirations.

They were welcomed to court by local magistrates and saw a wide range of cases ranging from arson to theft to assault. Several of the cases were dealt with by videolink with Exeter prison, which surprised many of the students, while some of the defendants were brought into the dock from the cells below.

Anna Powell, one of the students, said that the atmosphere then got very tense and it was quite scary to be so close to criminals already convicted of other offences.

Nicole Beer, another student, commented on how interesting it was to see a translator brought into court to assist in a trial, while several students were shocked and surprised at the severity of the fines meted out to speeding motorists — the highest fine was £1,000, but there were several other very high fines.

Helen Harris, head of law, said the students were impeccably behaved throughout and certainly learnt a lot from the experience.

Mrs Harris said: 'It was a real pleasure to take these students to see how the courts work, as well as introducing them to the range of careers in the legal world.

'They saw a district judge, barristers, solicitors, probation officers and court translators at work and were encouraged to set their sights high when choosing their own career paths.'