The UK Supreme Court is sitting for the first time ever here in Manchester this week, and it’s open for the public to watch.
Not only is it the first time that the UK’s highest court – which is the final court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – has sat in our city, but it’s also the first time it has sat outside of its permanent home in London, or in the other capital cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast.
The Supreme Court cases will be heard at Manchester’s Civil Justice Centre in Spinningfields.
Opened in 2007 and often nicknamed the ‘filing cabinet’ because of its distinctive external design, the Manchester Civil Justice Centre will welcome some of the top judges in the country on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Three cases are set to be heard this week.
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The Supreme Court has arrived at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where the Justices were welcomed by His Honour Judge Bird. The Court will be hearing cases in Manchester this week, and public are welcome to observe the proceedings. Find out more: https://t.co/LdzIPUJ8VHpic.twitter.com/MQT6u2QmMa
As the Supreme Court’s stay in Manchester aims to be “open and accessible” to all, curious members of the public are welcome to attend either of the three hearings happening this week to witness the court proceedings live in action.
Not only that, but the cases will also be streamed live online for those who are unable to make it in person.
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Lord Reed, who is the President of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Hodge, Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Burrows, Lord Stephens, Lady Rose, and Lord Richards are just some of the judges attending.
“The Supreme Court is committed to being one of the most open and accessible courts in the world,” Lord Reed said previously, “like all our hearings, the cases we hear in Manchester will be live streamed via our website for everyone who cannot get to see us in person.”
The UK Supreme Court is sitting in Manchester for the first time ever this week / Credit: Supreme Court UK
The judges are also set to attend several other events in the city while they’re here this week – including acting as judges for university students in mock cases, and a Judicial Assistant recruitment event at the Manchester Law Society.
They’ll also be hosting a Q&A session with sixth form students in the region.
Featured Image – Flickr
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Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Emily Sergeant -
6th March 2023 
