The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The Crown Court sitting at the Central Criminal Court deals with major criminal cases from Greater London and, in exceptional cases, from other parts of England and Wales. Part of the present building stands on the site of the medieval Newgate Gaol, on ''Old Bailey'', a road which follows the line of the City of London's fortified wall (or bailey), which runs from Ludgate Hill to the junction of Newgate Street and Holborn Viaduct.

As there is a requirement for justice to be seen to be done, trials at the Old Bailey, as at other courts, are open to the public, subject to stringent security procedures.

The building and its history[link]

The court originated as the sessions house of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City of London and of Middlesex. The original medieval court was first mentioned in 1585; it was next to the older Newgate prison, and seems to have grown out of the endowment to improve Newgate prison and rooms for the Sheriffs, made possible by a gift from Sir Richard Whittington. It was destroyed in the 1666 Fire of London and rebuilt in 1674, with the court open to the weather to prevent the spread of disease. In 1734 it was refronted, enclosing the court and reducing the influence of spectators: this led to outbreaks of typhus, notably in 1750 when sixty people died, including the Lord Mayor and two judges. It was rebuilt again in 1774 and a second courtroom was added in 1824. Over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out in the Old Bailey from 1674 to 1834, including all death penalty cases. In 1834 it was renamed as the ''Central Criminal Court'' and its jurisdiction extended beyond that of London and Middlesex to the whole of the English jurisdiction for trial of major cases. Her Majesty's Courts Service manages the courts and administers the trials but the building is owned and run by the City of London Corporation, who finance the building, the running of it, the staff and the maintenance out of their own resources.

The court was originally meant to be the site where only criminals accused of crimes committed in the City and Middlesex were tried. However, in 1856, there was public revulsion at the accusations against the doctor, William Palmer, that he was a poisoner and murderer. This led to fears that he could not receive a fair trial in his native Staffordshire. The Central Criminal Court Act of 1856 was passed to enable his trial to be held at the Old Bailey.

In the 19th century, the Old Bailey was a small court adjacent to Newgate Prison. Hangings were a public spectacle in the street outside until 26th May 1868. The condemned would be led along Dead Man’s Walk between the prison and the court, and many were buried in the walk itself. Large, riotous crowds would gather and pelt the condemned with rotten fruit and vegetables and stones. In 1807, 28 people were crushed to death after a pie-seller's stall overturned. A secret tunnel was subsequently created between the prison and St Sepulchre’s church opposite, to allow the priest to minister to the condemned man without having to force his way through the crowds.

The present building dates from 1902, but it was officially opened on 27 February 1907. It was designed by E. W. Mountford and built on the site of the infamous Newgate Prison, which was demolished to allow the court buildings to be constructed. Above the main entrance is inscribed the admonition, "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer". King Edward VII opened the courthouse.

On the dome above the court stands a bronze statue of Lady Justice, executed by British sculptor F. W. Pomeroy. She holds a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left. The statue is popularly supposed to show blind Justice; however, the figure is not blindfolded: the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her “maidenly form” is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.

During The Blitz, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but subsequent reconstruction work restored most of it in the early 1950s. In 1952, the restored interior of the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Courts was once again open. The interior of the Great Hall (underneath the dome) is decorated with paintings commemorating the blitz, as well as quasi-historical scenes of St Paul's Cathedral with nobles outside. Running around the entire hall are a series of axioms, some of biblical reference. They read:

: "The law of the wise is a fountain of life" : "The welfare of the people is supreme" : "Right lives by law and law subsists by power" : "Poise the cause in justice' equal scales" : "Moses gave unto the people the laws of God" : "London shall have all its ancient rights"

The Great Hall (and the floor beneath it) is also decorated with many busts and statues, chiefly British monarchs, but also of legal figures, and those who achieved renown by campaigning for improvement in prison conditions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This part of the building also houses the shorthand-writers' offices.

The lower level also hosts a minor exhibition on the history of the Old Bailey and Newgate featuring historical prison artefacts.

In 1973 The Provisional IRA exploded a car bomb in the street outside the courts, and a shard of glass is preserved as a reminder, embedded in the wall at the top of the main stairs.

Between 1968 and 1972, a new South Block, designed by the architects, Donald McMorran and George Whitby, was built to accommodate more modern courts. There are presently 18 courts in use. Court 19 is now used as a press overflow facility.

The original ceremonial gates to the 1907 part of the building are only used by the Lord Mayor and visiting royalty. The general entrance to the building is a few yards down the road in the South Block and is often featured as a backdrop in television news reports. There is also a separate rear entrance, not open to the public, which permits more discreet access. In Warwick Square, on the western side of the complex, is the 'Lord Mayor's Entrance'.

A remnant of the city wall is preserved in the basement beneath the cells.

Management[link]

The court manager is known by the title of the Secondary of the City of London. As of 2012, the Secondary is Charles Henty.

Judges[link]

All judges sitting in the Old Bailey are addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady" whether they are High Court, Circuit Judges or Recorders. The Lord Mayor of the City of London and Aldermen of the City of London are entitled to sit on the judges' bench during a hearing but do not participate in hearings.

The most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of Recorder of London, and his deputy has the title of Common Serjeant of London. The position of Recorder of London is distinct from that of recorder which is a part-time judicial office, holders of which sit part-time as judges of the Crown Court or the county courts. Some of the most senior criminal lawyers in the country sit as Recorders in the Central Criminal Court.

the Recorder of London is Judge Peter Beaumont QC, appointed in December 2004 following the death of his predecessor, Judge Michael Hyam. The Common Serjeant is Judge Brian Barker QC.

Civic role [link]

The court house originated as part of the City of London's borough judicial system, and it remains so. The Recorder and the Common Serjeant are both City officers, and the Recorder is a member of the Common Council because he is also a member of the Court of Aldermen. The City's Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor are justices there, but their jurisdiction is now nominal. The Sheriffs are resident with the senior judges in the complex. In Court Number 1, there are several benches set aside for the committee of the Bridge House Estates, which is the actual owner of the building.

In popular culture[link]

As the court in which the most serious criminal cases in London, and often the whole of England and Wales, have been heard for centuries, there are many references to the Old Bailey.

In the book ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens, the Old Bailey is the courthouse named in the book where Charles Darnay is put on trial for treason.

In the movie ''Witness for the Prosecution'', the court scenes are set in the Old Bailey.

In the novel ''Patriot Games'' and the eponymous film, terrorist Sean Miller is tried in the Old Bailey for the attempted kidnapping of the Prince & Princess of Wales (which killed two guards), and sentenced to life in prison after Jack Ryan's testimony (Ryan foiled the plot by disabling Miller and killing another terrorist with Miller's gun).

In the book ''Season of Migration to the North'' by Tayeb Salih, Mustafa Sa'eed was tried in the Old Bailey for the crime of murdering his English wife Jean Morris and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The Old Bailey is destroyed with explosives by the vigilante V in the graphic novel ''V for Vendetta'' and its film adaptation. In the graphic novel, V entertains a long, one-sided conversation with the statue of Justice on the roof, in which he professes his love for her but accuses her of being a whore for the fictional fascist government, and tells her of his new mistress named Anarchy.

The television series ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' concerns a defence lawyer who works at the Bailey. Sir John Mortimer, a criminal barrister and author, often appeared at the Old Bailey. His courtroom experiences led him to create the fictional character Horace Rumpole.

In the popular Australian folk song "Botany Bay", the first verse references the "well known Old Bailey". The song tells the tale of a group of prisoners being taken from Britain to the penal colonies of Australia.

In the television series ''Bad Girls'', the character Nikki Wade's successful appeal took place at the Old Bailey.

The book ''Neverwhere'' by Neil Gaiman has a character named Old Bailey.

In the television series ''Law & Order: UK'' several interior scenes are shot in the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Court, with the murals and axioms clearly visible.

The entire sketch "Court Charades" from the British comedy show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' happens at the Old Bailey, appearing when it's showing the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition.

It is featured in the rhyme "Oranges and Lemons", which, in turn, is featured in George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.

In the Leon Uris novel ''QB VII'' the courtrooms in the Old Bailey feature prominently.

In Leon Garfield's ''Smith'', in which the setting is at some point in Old Bailey.

In the television series ''Garrow's Law'', a fictional retelling of the life of 18th Century barrister William Garrow, many of the scenes take place within the Old Bailey.

In an episode of the television series ''Sherlock'', a BBC adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Sherlock Holmes.

See also[link]

Courts of the United Kingdom

Royal Courts of Justice

Bow Street Magistrates' Court

Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court

Elizabeth Brownrigg (defendant, 1767)

References[link]

External links[link]

HM Courts Service – CCC – Daily Court Status

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey London 1674 to 1913 - Archive of case details

Central Criminal Court from the City of London website

Old Bailey photographs at 100 years old (from BBC)

From Rumpole to the Ripper, Crippen to the Krays: The Old Bailey turns 100, Duncan Campbell, ''The Guardian'', 27 February 2007

View from Google Maps

Copy of Sunday Times article including rare picture of Grand Hall

Voices from the Old Bailey - BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of 18th century cases

Old Bailey, The Category:Crown Courts Category:Edwardian architecture Category:Grade II* listed buildings in London Category:Grade II* listed government buildings Old Bailey, The Category:Buildings and structures in the City of London

de:Old Bailey fr:Old Bailey ko:중앙 형사 재판소 id:Old Bailey it:Old Bailey he:אולד ביילי no:Old Bailey pt:Old Bailey ru:Олд-Бейли sh:Old Bailey

Francis James Baird Wheen (born 22 January 1957) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Early life and education[link]

Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley, West Sussex and Harrow School in north west London.

Life and career[link]

Running away from Harrow at 16 "to join the alternative society," Wheen had early periods as a "dogsbody" at ''The Guardian'' and the ''New Statesman'' and attended Royal Holloway College, University of London after a period as a crammer. At Harrow, he was a contemporary of Mark Thatcher who has been a recurring subject of his journalism.

In April 2012, Wheen suffered the loss of his entire book collection, his "life's work", and an unfinished novel, in a garden shed fire.

Writing[link]

Wheen is the author of several books, including a biography of Karl Marx which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize in 1999, and has been translated into twenty languages. He followed the biography of Karl Marx with a "biography" of ''Das Kapital'', which follows the creation and publication of the first volume of Marx's major work as well as other incomplete volumes. Wheen had a column in ''The Guardian'' for several years. He writes for ''Private Eye'' and is currently the magazine's deputy editor. His collected journalism – ''Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies'' won him the Orwell Prize in 2003. He has also been a regular columnist for the London ''Evening Standard''.

Broadcasting work[link]

Wheen broadcasts regularly, mainly on BBC Radio 4, and is a regular panelist on ''The News Quiz'', in which he often refers to the fact that he resembles the former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. He is also a regular on ''Have I Got News For You''.

Wheen wrote a docudrama, ''The Lavender List'' for BBC Four on the final period of Harold Wilson's premiership, concentrating on his relationship with Marcia Williams, which first screened in March 2006. It starred Kenneth Cranham as Wilson and Gina McKee as Williams. In April 2007, the BBC paid £75,000 to Williams (then Baroness Falkender) in an out-of-court settlement over claims made in the programme.

Political views[link]

In 2006 Wheen was a signatory to the Euston Manifesto which called for a realignment of progressive politics. Wheen has objected to elements within the political left which he regards as anti-democratic. For example, in late-2005, Wheen was co-author, with journalist David Aaronovitch and blogger Oliver Kamm, of a complaint to ''The Guardian'' after it published a correction and apology in respect of an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes; Chomsky had complained that the interview was defamatory in suggesting that he denied the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

Personal life[link]

Wheen was married to the writer Joan Smith between 1985 and 1993. He has been the partner of Julia Jones (formerly Julia Thorogood) since the mid-1990s; they have two sons.

Wheen was a close friend of the writer Christopher Hitchens.

References[link]

Partial bibliography[link]

''The Sixties'' (1982) ISBN 0-7126-0018-3

''Television: A History'' (1984) ISBN 0-7126-0929-6

''Battle for London'' (1985) ISBN 0-7453-0054-5

''Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions'' (1990) ISBN 0-7011-3143-8

''The Chatto Book of Cats (Chatto Anthologies)'' Francis Wheen, editor, John O'Connor, illustrator (1993) ISBN 0-7011-4005-4

''Lord Gnome's Literary Companion'' (1994) ISBN 1-85984-945-8

''Karl Marx'' (1999) ISBN 1-85702-637-3

''Who Was Dr. Charlotte Bach?'' (2002) ISBN 1-904095-39-9

''Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001'' (2002) ISBN 1-903809-42-8 (mainly consisting of columns written for ''The Guardian'')

''The Irresistible Con: The Bizarre Life of a Fraudulent Genius'' (2004) ISBN 1-904095-74-7

''Shooting Out the Lights'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714943-3

''How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714096-7; in the USA and Canada: ''Idiot Proof: A Short History of Modern Delusions'' (2004) ISBN 1-58648-247-5

''Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography'' (2006) ISBN 978-1843544005

''Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia'' (2009) ISBN 978-0007244270

External links[link]

Extract from Hoo-Hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism

''Booknotes'' interview with Wheen on ''Karl Marx: A Life'', June 25, 2000.

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Category:British journalists Category:English atheists Category:The Guardian journalists Category:Old Harrovians Category:Private Eye contributors

pl:Francis Wheen fi:Francis Wheen

name	Rebecca Black
background	solo_singer
birth name	Rebecca Renee Black
birth date	June 21, 1997
birth place	Irvine, California, U.S.
genre	Pop
occupation	Singer
instrument	Vocals
years active	2011–present
label	RB Records
website
notable instruments	}}

Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American pop singer and dancer who gained extensive media attention with the 2011 single "Friday". Her mother paid $4,000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release through the record label ARK Music Factory. The song was co-written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson of Ark Music Factory. After the video went viral on YouTube and other social media sites, "Friday" was derided by many music critics and viewers, who dubbed it "the worst song ever." The music video received around 167 million views, causing Black to gain international attention as a "viral star", before being removed from the site on June 16. Black re-uploaded it in her own channel three months later.

Biography[link]

Personal life[link]

Rebecca Black was born on June 21, 1997, in Irvine, California. She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians. She is of Mexican, Spanish, Italian, English, and Polish descent. An honor student, Black studied dance, auditioned for school shows, attended music summer camps, and began singing publicly in 2008 after joining the patriotic group Celebration USA. In 2011 Black left public school in favor of homeschooling, both in response to constant verbal bullying at school and in order to focus more of her time on her career. Black later said that her main reason for the move to homeschooling was more for career reasons rather than the bullying.

Career[link]

Ark Music Factory and "Friday" (2010–2011)[link]

In late 2010, a classmate of Black and music-video client of ARK Music Factory, a Los Angeles label, told her about the company. Black's mother paid $4,000 for Ark Music to produce the music video while the Blacks retained ownership of both the master and the video. The single, "Friday", written entirely by Ark, was released on YouTube and iTunes. The song's video was uploaded to YouTube on February 10, 2011, and received approximately 1,000 views in the first month. The video went viral on March 11, 2011, acquiring millions of views on YouTube in a matter of days, becoming the most-talked-about topic on social networking site Twitter, and garnering mostly negative media coverage. As of June 14, 2011, the video had received more than 3,190,000 "dislikes" on YouTube compared to more than 451,000 "likes". As of March 22, 2011, first-week sales of her digital single were estimated to be around 40,000 by ''Billboard.'' On March 22, 2011, Black appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,'' during which she performed the single and discussed the negative reaction to it. The song has peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 58 and 33, respectively. In the UK, the song debuted at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart.

Black teamed up with Funny or Die on April Fool's Day (the site was renamed Friday or Die) for a series of videos, including one which addresses the controversy about the driving kids in her music video, stating "We so excited about safety."

She has stated that she is a fan of Justin Bieber, and expressed interest in performing a duet with him.

In response to the YouTube video of "Friday", Black began to receive death threats in late February 2011, specifically by phone and email. These threats are being investigated by the Anaheim Police Department.

In March 2011, Ryan Seacrest reportedly helped sign Rebecca to manager Debra Baum's DB Entertainment.

MTV selected Rebecca to host its first online awards show, the O Music Awards Fan Army Party in April 2011. As an homage to "Friday", Black appears in the music video for Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", in which Black plays alongside Perry as the hostess of a party Perry attends. "Friday" was also performed on the second season of ''Glee'' in the episode, "Prom Queen", which originally aired May 10, 2011. When asked about why the song was covered on ''Glee'', show creator Ryan Murphy replied, "The show pays tribute to pop culture and, love it or hate it, that song is pop culture."

RB Records and upcoming album (2011–present)[link]

After the fallout with Ark Music Factory, Black announced she would start an independent record label named RB Records. Black released a self-produced single titled "My Moment" on July 18 by her own label RB Records, with an accompanying music video, publishing it to her YouTube channel; the video as of November 27 has received, approximately, 590,000 "dislikes" against 340,000 "likes." In the "My Moment" music video, director Morgan Lawley features real life video of Black's life from both before and after her fame.

Black is planning to release her official debut album around 2012, which she said will include "a bunch of different kinds of stuff." It is being recorded at a studio belonging to music producer Charlton Pettus. In an interview with ''The Sun'', Black said that the songs will be "appropriate and clean".

Black appears as herself in the music video of Katy Perry's single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". She appears as the host of a party in the house next door to that of "Kathy Beth Terry". At the end of the video Perry attempts to blame the excesses of the party (which had subsequently moved to her own house) on Black, only for her parents (Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson) to disbelieve her. Later on, Perry (in character as Kathy Beth Terry) and Black hosted a livestream on Tinychat.com after weeks of Black being mentioned on Terry's Twitter. Perry, who performs Friday routinely on stage as part of California Dreams Tour, also brought Black on stage to perform the song as a duet during her show at the Nokia Theater on August 5, 2011.

On August 10, 2011, Black was featured in an ABC ''Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets'' special entitled ''Underage and Famous: Inside Child Stars' Lives''.

On Friday, September 16, Black re-uploaded "Friday" on YouTube. In late September 2011, she was brought to Australia by Telstra to promote the launch of their 4G service.

On October 25, Black announced she started filming her upcoming music video which she first identified as 'POI' and later identified as "Person of Interest". Black said, "My next single coming out is called 'Person of Interest.' The basis of it is that it's a love song but it's not a love song. It's about almost teenage crushes — when you're not in love yet but you really like a guy — which I'm really excited about because I don't think there are too many out like that. It's very much a dance type song. It will make you get up and dance and sing along in your car." A teaser of the official music video was posted on November 3, 2011. Black released another teaser including a snippet of the song on November 10, 2011 on her YouTube channel. The single and its accompanying music video were released on November 15, 2011.

On December 20, 2011, "Friday" was revealed as the #1 video of the year by YouTube and Black hosted a short video called "YouTube Rewind".

On May 8, 2012, Black will release a new single, "Sing It." The music video will premiere the day before, on May 7.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

61 — —

scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"	Title	Year	Peak chart positions						Album
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"		! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"
! scope="row"	rowspan="3">2011	58	40	|	46	33	60	rowspan="3"	TBA
scope="row"	"My Moment"	—	—	|	—	—	—
scope="row"	"Person of Interest"	—	—	|	—	—	—

Music videos[link]

+ List of music videos, showing year released	Title	Year	Director(s)
! scope="row"		N/A
"My Moment"	Morgan Lawley
"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" (with Katy Perry)	Marc KlasfeldDanny Lockwood
! scope="row"	N/A
"Sing It"	2012	N/A

Awards and nominations[link]

In April 2011, the ''MTV O Music Awards'', one of the annual awards established by MTV to honor the art, creativity, personality and technology of music into the digital space nominated "Which Seat Can I Take?" for "Favorite Animated GIF" that included footage by Rebecca Black featuring 50 Cent and Bert. Black was named "Choice Web Star" at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards in August 2011.

! Year	! Nominated work	! Event	! Award	! Result
	"Which Seat Can I Take?" (50 Cent, Rebecca Black, Bert)	MTV O Music Awards	Favorite Animated GIF
	2011 Teen Choice Awards	Choice Web Star
J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic Web Star
2012	Hollywood Teen TV Awards	Favorite Breakout Star

References [link]

External links[link]

Official YouTube Channel

Category:1997 births Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American female pop singers Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Polish descent Category:ARK Music Factory Category:Child pop musicians Category:Internet memes Category:Living people Category:People from Irvine, California Category:Singers from California

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