Court stories are an important part of the news service we provide and are not surprisingly these stories are usually well read.

Sometimes people object to being written about, and that's understandable.

Of course people would prefer their crimes to go unreported or their moments of misjudgment to go unnoticed by the public.

We believe people have a right to know what crimes are being committed in their city and what punishment the legal system has decided to hand out.

Legal penalties are a direct reflection of the expectations, standards and morals of our society.

Most importantly we try to treat all people the same way, whether you're rich or poor, educated or not, everyone is treated equally in the eyes of the law and when it comes to court reporting we follow the same rule.

This week we have run a number of court stories about individuals and companies alike and as always we have  endeavoured to report these matters in a fair and accurate way.

Tracey