... the case is heard lies with the defendant. They are the middle range crimes and include theft, obtaining property by deception and assault causing actual bodily harm. If the defendant wants the case tried at the Magistrates Court, then it will proceed the same way for summary offences with the Lay Magistrates conducting the trial. At the end of the case instead of sentencing the defendant, Magistrates can commit the defendant to the Crown Court for sentence under section 38 of 'Magistrates Court Act 1980'. This happens because of the seriousness of the offence where it will be decided at the Crown Court by a judge. Lay Magistrates also do preliminary cases. This is for serious offences such as indictable offences and is to see if there is enough evidence to be tried at the Crown Court. This is known as 'committal proceedings' and is intended to establish whether there is ...

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