COUNTY youngsters took part in a series of mock trials in front of working sheriffs at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Musselburgh’s Loretto RC School came up against King’s Meadow Primary School pupils from Haddington in the annual competition.

And despite the youngsters from Loretto having a star witness, they were thwarted by the King’s Meadow team, who received the sheriff’s nod.

The Loretto pupils prepared the defence by including the Honest Lad, who, the court was told, had to be considered truthful because of the very nature of his title.

However, they lost their case and the following evening a second team from the school took on the role of pursuers in a second case, this time against a defence team from Newtongrange Primary School.

Sadly, Loretto lost out again, but not before pupil Jack Davidson was praised by the sheriff as one of the best witnesses he had ever encountered in a mock court case.

The Mock Court Case Challenge sees schools across Scotland compete against each other in cases which are ruled on by real sheriffs. The pupils prepare their cases, with a wide variety of roles handed out, from lawyers to journalist to court artist.

The annual competition is seen as an opportunity to give pupils an insight into the Scottish legal system.

Loretto principal teacher Kate O’Regan said the children enjoyed their experience, even seeing the funny side when rivals King’s Meadow persuaded the sheriff a fake ID was real.

She said: “The children saw the humour and were not too disappointed. It was a very steep learning curve for everyone involved.”

Louise Murray, P6 teacher at King’s Meadow, said the school team were now looking forward to taking part in the finals in Febuary next year.

She said: “It was an amazing experience for all concerned.”