Coulsdon College’s Law student, Tyra Harris has won the final of Big Voice London’s Mooting Competition, in association with the Supreme Court.

The final took place at the Supreme Court on April 26th.  Tyra, along with Chaneille Gaynor, who are both studying BTEC Level 3 Law at Coulsdon College, presented their cases to Lord Neuberger, who is the President of the UK Supreme Court.

This is the sixth Big Voice London mooting competition and the whole process started in early March, with weekly knockout rounds.  18 students from across London were paired up with Bar Professional Training Course students, who acted as ‘Mooting Mentors’ and they had to prepare for and execute mock trials.  Tyra and Chaneille reached the final after 4 previous rounds of strong competition, knocking out 16 other students. 

Throughout the six-week competition, they were guided by their mentors and mooting partners, George Spence-Jones and Tom Worden, researching problems on: misrepresentation, psychiatric harm, privacy law, nuisance, and finally defamation.

Tyra, who is 16 says “I am really proud to have won.  Not many 16 year olds get a chance to present a case to the President of the UK Supreme Court.  It was a lot of pressure, every week analysing a case, researching other similar cases to back our arguments up, and finally presenting our case, but it really gave us an idea of what it is like to be a barrister in court. I’m determined to go to University to study Law and then pursue a career in Law, although I’m not sure which area I will specialise in.

Law Teacher, Ray Caramba-Coker is proud of his student’s achievements. “The girls have had the most amazing experience, being able to present their cases in front of Lord Neuberger, President of the UK Supreme Court. The competition has enabled them to experience court advocacy, and helped them to develop their knowledge of the law and their communication skills with the help of those already pursuing a career in law."

Louise Ketley, Coordinator of Big Voice London summed up, "The arguments were incredibly well put on both sides and the students greatly impressed Lord Neuberger and us with how far they have come in only six weeks of moot rounds and with two hours of training prior to this. The students have very bright futures ahead of them."