Manchester BPTC grads get chance to practise on police trainees
updated on 13 August 2013
Students on Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU's) BTPC course and police trainees recently took part in a full-scale mock trial, offering both sets of aspiring professionals the taste of their career future.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and MMU's law school joined forces to offer their students the chance to experience the trials and tribulations of the courtroom. The case notes from the 'crime' were used by the trainee barristers, recently graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University's BPTC, to cross-examine the officers as they took to the stand to deliver their evidence in a courtroom inside Manchester's Police Museum.
Joanne Lewthwaite, BPTC course director, said: "It's a fantastic opportunity for the students to practise in a wholly realistic setting - as real as they're going to get before the actual thing. We're developing a really great relationship with GMP and this is the second training exercise this year, the first was in April. It's a good opportunity for the police trainees as well, by having to give evidence as part of their training."
Dawn Leonard, BPTC graduate, said: "If you speak to judges, one of the things they say is make sure your advocacy is good, so to be able to practise in a courtroom with police officers is a brilliant opportunity."
