A GROUP of budding young legal eagles from South Lakeland has won praise after reaching the final of a courtroom competition.

Year 11 and 12 pupils from the sixth form at Dallam School, Milnthorpe, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court alongside representatives from schools across the UK to take part in the national final of the Bar Mock Trial Competition.

The pupils from Dallam won a place in the final after taking top-spot in the regional heat of the competition in Manchester and beat off competition from more than 150 other schools to earn a seat on the bench at the prestigious showpiece event in Cardiff.

The competition is run by the Citizenship Foundation in partnership with the Bar Council and is designed to provide an opportunity for 15 -18 year olds to learn about the law through playing the parts of barristers, witnesses and jurors in a mock trial.

The cases examined the hard-hitting issues of assault and criminal damage and the group from Dallam won two out of the three cases they took part in on the day.

For full story see the March 16 editrion of The Westmorland Gazette.