The Presiding Magistrate

The Presiding Magistrate

By Paul McCann

He sat there like a conductor of an orchestra with the music about to begin .

The intro began with some written conversations that silently flowed into a movement of personal references on behalf of the accused who stood there silent and motionless . Unable to join in with the passionate questioning , he allowed the surge of the siege to take him to a place where he could be found innocent or guilty of a crime . With the seven assault charges he faced he hoped for someone to listen and understand how he was only acting in self-defence , in the matter, of singing for his supper on the corner of Main Street on a Saturday night in the city where life never sleeps and some shops never close .

The magistrate waved his hands and arms at objections and offering with a denial or a sustained understanding response as the music of the courtroom was building into an unheard  song of justice or a narration of harassment without melody or form .

  The words were softly spoken by the defence council to the audience in the court :

“Let it be known that the accused was in no way or by any means intending to harm anyone on the night in question your honour “

Some unrehearsed fill in lines were added by the prosecution ‘

“:How would you know , what was on the mind of the accused . There are several victims who had no intention to harm anyone that night “

The defence knew the lines of the song and responded ,

“It’s not something that I condone however on the night in question the behaviour of several young hooligans was the trigger to what ensued . The actions of my client was to protect himself and his takings from busking your honour and I have footage from the cornet shop to present to the court that clearly shows the accused being robbed by the several , so called victims, on that Saturday night “The opera continued like a musical show on a showboat in the rough waters of time before the chorus of sweet karma was heard . Before footage was played to the court depicting the accused being assaulted physically and verbally by a crowd of intoxicated youths . They grabbed the money that had been donated by the public for his performance .

A word of adlib rung out from the prosecution “

“Objection”

Immediately the magistrate called out .

“Overruled :”

The chorus was heard by the defence and all those gathered in the court heard the song of justice as the prosecution shed bitter tears and continued to harass and add insult to the accused’.

The defence lifted into a higher octave and released a flurry of inspired words .

“Your honour as you can see for yourself . The victim is not the accused , look at this story unfolding here . The assault and battery of a busker and the robbery that took place on that corner . There can only be one truth and one justice . See this innocent man , who was given the good fortune of earning some extra money for his talent and if you would allow me to speak my mind “
The magistrate interrupted and asked for a moment .

He stood up from his chair and sang a song for everyone one to hear in the court ‘

 .It’s time for the guilty to face the music and now I will play the tune that they will have to dance to  . There is no room in my court for those who are guilty and so I ask that the jury consider the crime here today . Let the music play , for the truth of it is , this busker has paid his dues and now it’s time for the piper to play another tune “

Everyone in the court stood up and applauded . The magistrate asked for ten minutes for the jury to make their decision and left the court for a little while .

When it was time for the jury to announce their verdict, all waited for the axe to fall .

The busker was innocent and immediately the magistrate asked for the guitar that he had brought into the court .

He started to play a song called Blowing in The Wind and asked everyone in the court to join in if they knew the words .

The court erupted in people singing and tears were shed by the busker .

The guilty were given three weeks to work as volunteers in a city soup kitchen where the homeless went for a feed . The busker was presented with an award by the city and given a corner that belonged to him where he could sing anytime night or day . Never before had the court seen a magistrate like this . It was the first time that music had been played by the presiding magistrate in a courtroom anywhere in the city .

The busker ended up as a professional musician and often told the story of the presiding magistrate that played Blowing In The Wind . The busker went on to make music and help fund music awareness programs for the disabled in the City .

He also had international support for live concerts to raise money for equipment and  care assist homes for the disabled  .

He would often perform and sing with his group in venues where special ramps and seating was had been added for disabled people to come to the concerts .

The busker also did his part to bring justice for those who had hardships to endure .

He wrote songs that brought an awareness to injustice and became a great source of encouragement for many who were facing injustice ,

The End

By  Paul McCann