MINI legal eagles and artists from Whitecraig Primary School have scooped accolades for their skills in the court room.

The school won two awards in the Primary Mock Court Project – one for advocacy and another for a creative artwork showing a court scene made of Lego.

The children in P6/7 were delighted with their achievements in their first time in the competition, which attracted about 900 youngsters across central Scotland.

The Whitecraig pupils were divided into two teams, pursuers and defenders, and given an outline of the case which involved a pensioner getting a new mobile phone and contract.

There were also court artists who produced artwork linked to the case, journalists producing newspaper articles on the proceedings, gown makers who designed and made the lawyers’ gowns, researchers who helped the lawyers with information on the case, and witnesses.

The pursuers, who acted for the phone company, worked with tutor Kirsty Jamieson from Anderson Strathearn, and the defenders, agents for the pensioner, were shown the legal ropes by Jamie Foulis of Balfour-Manson.

The gown makers had to source their material without being allowed to pay for it and received donations from Edinburgh store John Lewis.

Pupils then had to present their case before a real sheriff under court room conditions in Edinburgh. Each team battled it out, cross-examining witnesses from another team from a different school.

Whitecraig came first in the Lothian area, winning a certificate of merit for its Lego court room, which was judged to be “outstanding” artwork. Despite losing their case, the school’s pursuers were declared the Lothians advocacy winners for their legal performance, which was helped by the whole school team including researchers and the defenders, who took part in court classroom practice session.

Class teacher Jenny Clark said: “All of the children worked extremely hard on this project and gained many skills by taking part. They worked amazingly together as a class and showed great support for the opposite team on their court days and should be very proud of their achievements.”