Rosalind Knighton works in PR, but in the past she worked for the Shields Gazette on Tyneside, and prior to that on the Shields Weekly News – now called the Whitley Bay Guardian series. She contacted us to share this story:

“I think my funniest experience as a court reporter was the very rare andone-off experience when I was sitting in the reporter’s bench, and suddenlythe first case came up – grievous bodily harm – and I couldn’t find a pento note the case.

“I’d left it in the office. Desperately, I asked my constant companions ofpress colleagues on the Press Bench for one – but to no avail. And then Iasked the ever friendly court usher to oblige. He was out of pens too!

“Gosh, if I missed this one, my News Editor would hang me!

“Knowing that desperate situations require desperate actions I walked up tothe defendant in the witness box and asked if he had a pen. He did! Andduly offered it to me. Can’t imagine how he was allowed to have thisanyway.

“But the result was that I reported his case in full in the Press – thanksto his contribution.”

What was your funniest experience?
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