Judge Elizabeth Gaynor (County Court of Victoria) Interview 18/10/2005

In those days, you would get sent out for example to the Prahran Magistrates' Court and you'd sit in your office, they were minor cases and they were always where they pleaded guilty. If they pleaded not guilty, you briefed it out, and mainly shoplifters, millions of shoplifters and because it was the Prahran Magistrates' Court of course as well, thousands of bail applications for junkies who'd been picked up over the weekend.

You'd go in on the Monday morning in the cells at Prahran and they'd all be in there, screeching away. At first, I'd say "These poor, poor people" and they'd ring up and try desperately to get bail. Then you'd ring up and they'd say, "Ring my Aunt Rosa, she'll get me out". You'd go, "Mrs so-and-so, Gino is in gaol". (Feigns old migrant lady's voice.) "I don't want to know him, last time he came out, he steal my wedding ring the next day. I don't care". (Young man's voice) "She's an old fucking bitch!" It was very funny.

And the shoplifters were really funny too because there weren't a lot of duty solicitors on duty each day so you'd do millions of appearances and so I'd be taking down my instructions for one shoplifter and the call would come out saying "Do you know the name of someone else who I had already taken instructions from?" so it was really difficult to remember which shoplifter was who. It was a sensational grounding because you'd be half way through instructions from one person, you'd go into court, enter a plea, come out, pick up, re-enter. Big sausage machine sometimes, but I really enjoyed it.

Conducted for the Bar Oral History project by Juliette Brodsky, and filmed by Stewart Carter (People Pictures)