Children's University jury finds Miss Muffet guilty

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Children's University jury finds Miss Muffet guilty

Tuesday, 11 October 2022

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ECU’s School of Education runs the Children’s University, a program for children aged seven to 14. During the recent school holidays a group had the chance to participate in a mock court case.

Members of our School of Business and Law team ran the activity in the Moot Court at ECU’s Joondalup campus. It’s set up like a real court room and is normally used to give Law students experience in presenting in court.

The children and their parents took on the roles of counsel, witnesses and jury in the case: Who killed Humpty Dumpty?

Law lecturer Ken Yin explained that participants had to examine the available evidence and determine whether Miss Muffet pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall, or whether he had fallen in an accident.

The prosecution case was that Miss Muffet bore a grudge against Humpty as he had placed a spider beside her – specifically, a tarantula - some years earlier, causing her to be severely traumatised. She had motive to get back at Humpty and seized the opportunity to cause him injury by pushing him.

Circumstantial evidence, namely a plate of curds and whey (which Miss Muffet notoriously was fond of) was found close to where Humpty allegedly fell, thereby placing Miss M at the scene of the crime. Defence counsel however vigorously argued that, as ‘curds and whey’ was merely a ‘fancy name for cottage cheese’, a common enough dish, the presence of curds and whey/cottage cheese did not necessarily point to Miss Muffet’s presence.

Following examination in chief and probing cross examination and skilful closing addresses by the children who were acting as counsel, Little Miss Muffet was found guilty by the jury.

Ken Yin commented that there are already mutterings of a mistrial, as Little Miss Muffet, in her address to the judge before sentencing, revealed that she had long forgiven Humpty, contrary to a central aspect of the prosecution case, that she had motive to commit the crime.

The children – and their parents – found the activity exciting and interesting. As one of the children said ‘I enjoyed thinking up reasons for defending Little Miss Muffet and I enjoyed learning about court’.

A parent commented that the activity was very well organised, and that it had given the children a valuable opportunity to craft a debate, and learn terms and principles of law in a great mock court.

The law discipline would like to thank Donna Gallinagh and Dr Julie Boston from ECU’s School of Education for the opportunity to participate in this most engaging event.

School of Business and Law