'We're not elected, we're not celebrities': Shropshire's newest judge talks about his vital role

Judge Jim Tindal is just 40 but has been a full-time judge at Shrewsbury Crown Court since January and has since sentenced on a number of high-profile cases.

Last week, he spoke out against hate crime in the wake of the conviction of four Lithuanian men who were part of an organised burglary gang working across Shropshire.

Speaking as he completes his first six months in the post, Judge Tindal said he felt there was a "public interest" in the roles that judges play and felt it was important that members of the public understand more about the sentencing of crimes in crown court.

He said: "There is a perception that judges can be quite aloof but they don't have to be.

"The public are interested in we do and people talk about what we do."

Working in a crown court, Judge Tindal is responsible for overseeing a number of different kinds of cases but he said that their work is always as part of a team.

When covering appeals from magistrates court, he works with a bench of magistrates and says he takes his lead from them.

When working on case management hearings, he relies on court staff to ensure the hearings run smoothly.

He said: "Trials we can't do without the public. People obviously know about the jury, but I don't think people understand how important they are.

"The people who decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty is the public. My job is very much supportive.

"Sentencing is my decision, but I couldn't do it without the advocates, the defence and the prosecution, the police, the probation service."

Judge Tindal praised the work of the probation service, saying he, or any other judge, will rarely sentence without guidance from probation reports, which offer advice about the "risk factor" an offender may pose in the future.

He also said judges follow sentencing guidelines, a national framework which gives an idea of what punishment crimes should face.

He said: "The idea is that whether you commit a crime in Carlisle or Plymouth, the type of sentence will be the same, though obviously all crimes are different."

But he added: "What I do when I sentence is I think, what can I do that might mean this person, or other people, don't do this again."

Judge Tindal said that he wanted to address questions that the public often raise about sentencing, often raising concerns about the length of the sentence, why someone may be given a community sentence rather than being imprisoned and why criminals do not serve their full jail term.

He said: "Most research suggest that a sentence in the community can stop people from re-offending.

"Two thirds of people given a short custodial sentence go on to re-offend.

"That is because prison takes time to work.

"I had two major cases last week, the kidnapping case and the burglary case.

"The burglary case was particularly unusual because it was a professional gang.

"Most burglaries, and shoplifting and things like are done by people trying to fund a drug habit.

"We have a drug rehabilitation requirement which can be a particularly onerous order."

He said the order involves regular meetings with probation service and drug tests, plus a weekly meeting with the Judge, held in private on a Friday.

He said: "Getting off drugs and is difficult and this offers an incentive that if they fall off the wagon they could go back to prison.

"With young people or first time offenders, if they go into prison they're coming into contact with other offenders and could be more likely to offend than if they are given a tough community order.

"A good punishment can be a curfew. At this time of year, saying to a 20-year-old, you're not going out at all over the summer all your mates are going out and you're staying home with your mum.

"I had a sentencing of a young lad yesterday and he was crestfallen, and that can be quite effective when coupled with unpaid work."

He also raised the issue of the length of sentence which can be a contentious issue, using the example of someone who has been charged with careless driving where someone has been killed.

He said: "That's the sort of mistakes that drivers make every day but in this particular circumstances someone has died.

"It is always difficult because a life has been taken away but it isn't a case of dangerous driving, racing, or bad drink driving.

"The guidelines tell me, and I think it is common sense, that that is less serious than death by dangerous driving.

"But the guidelines are flexible, the modern ones that were brought in four or five years ago are much more flexible."

Judge Tindal began working as a solicitor in Wolverhampton in 2000, before starting as a barrister in Birmingham in 2002.

He has been a part time judge since 2009 and took on his first role as a Midlands circuit judge at Shrewsbury Crown Court in January.

He lives in Worcestershire with his wife and two young children.

He said: "Everyone has been very welcoming.

"We're not elected, we're not celebrities but I know there is a public interest in what we do and I have tried, since I have been here, to have some degree of engagement with the local community."

In May he judged a debating competition for school pupils in Shropshire which had been organised by Lanyon Bowdler solicitors.