Rubbing shoulders with the regular visitors to a criminal court might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

But former Lloyds bank worker Claude D’Souza, 79, who retired last month, volunteered for the position at Kingston Magistrates’ Court five years ago for a reason - he wanted to help witnesses through the often-baffling world of courtrooms and cases.

He has helped the Witness Service for five years, playing a vital role in looking after anyone who has to appear in court to give evidence in a trial.

The experience of what is an old-fashioned court can be a shocking one - diving into the unfamiliar world of police, defendants, legal teams and, sitting above it all, the magistrates.

As often as once a week at the start of his five years service, Mr D’Souza, who lives in West Molesey but was born in India, has given his time to preparing people for their appearance, showing them courtrooms, explaining how a court works and outlining what will happen during a trial.

He said: “You get some witnesses who are very familiar with things but some are very nervous.

“Generally it is trying to help and assist people. We are not allowed to advise.”

Witness service volunteers do not have any dealings with defendants, whose guilt or innocence is the subject of the court’s interrogations, but they can deal with witnesses from both the prosecution or defence side and on occasions things do get heated.

Mr D’Souza said: “I wouldn’t say it is peaceful but a calm atmosphere and it all depends on the court. Sometimes when the Crown Prosecution Service is cross-examining people might get a bit excited.

“Sometimes people start to shout and the magistrates will tell them to be quiet or talk softly.”

In November it was revealed that Kingston could be set for another battle to keep its historic courtroom, after an official report said one in four across south-west London could be closed.

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