THE doors of Kidderminster Magistrates Court are being thrown open for a day in September to mark 100 years of youth courts.

Visitors will have the chance to see a court session from 1909 re-enacted, based on a transcript from a genuine case.

A mock 2009 youth court will also be set up, using working defence lawyers, representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service and Youth Offending Service members.

Youth courts deal with almost all cases involving young people under the age of 18. Located in the Magistrates Court building, the courts are served by youth panel magistrates, who have the power to give detention and training orders of up to 24 months, as well as a range of sentences in the community.

Youth courts are less formal than magistrates’ courts and engage more with the young person appearing in court and their family.

Members of the public are not usually allowed in on court sessions and it is hoped the open day will give a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors. Jill Gramann, chairman of Kidderminster Magistrates youth panel, said: “The open day will help people understand the challenges we face as magistrates and how the lives of young people are being changed for the better through youth courts.”

There will be an interactive element to the day, where spectators can vote for the punishment an offender should receive.

A tour of the cells will also be available and visitors can experience being shut inside secure prison vehicles that transfer offenders to a Young Offenders Institution.

Mrs Gramann explained the event was intended to show how much has changed in youth courts over the past 100 years and to give people an insight into the workings of a modern court.

“People will be able to see how many agencies work together to divert young people from crime, to prevent re-offending and to rehabilitate offenders, to recompense society and to punish appropriately - above all, remembering that we are dealing with children and many vulnerable young people,” she said.

The court sessions will run throughout the day at 10am, 11am, midday, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm, with question and answer sessions being held at 11.30am and 1pm.

A PowerPoint presentation explaining how youth justice has changed over the past 100 years, and what sentencing options magistrates have today will also be held.

The open day is being staged at the courts, in Comberton Place, on Wednesday, September 9, from 9.30am to 4pm.