Mickey Mouse has been listed to appear in court in Stoke-on-Trent.
The Disney character, along with Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse, was named as a defendant in a Crown Court report published by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, set to appear on Thursday (November 12).
“Is it someone’s last day?!” one person tweeted, sharing screenshots from The Crown Court at Stoke on Trent listing Mickey, Donald and Minnie to appear before Her Honour Judge Hancox at 10am on Thursday.
“Sorry for the error,” a HMCTS spokesperson replied. “We’ve been testing a new upgrade to our case management system and the names were created as test cases but should have been deleted before the lists were issued/published.
“Our local team has updated the final list online, removing the test names/cases.”
Sorry for the error – we’ve been testing a new upgrade to our case management system and the names were created as test cases but should have been deleted before the lists were issued/published. Our local team has updated the final list online, removing the test names/cases.
— HMCTS (@HMCTSgovuk) November 11, 2020
“Best thing that’s happened in law all year!” came the response to the explanation.
Bugs Bunny, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty and Cruella Deville were also listed to appear before the error was rectified.
The cases of the cartoon characters were listed alongside those of real defendants, set to appear in court via video calls from prison.
Another person on Twitter said “I preferred the original lists”, with one from Stoke adding: “Having practiced in Stoke for many years, this appears to be entirely normal.”
Having practiced in Stoke for many years, this appears to be entirely normal
— Carl Buckley (@carlbuckley37) November 11, 2020
Looking ahead to the festive season, one Twitter user wrote: “Give it a couple of weeks and Ebenezer Scrooge, Santa Claus and Tiny Tim might be listed.”
