A Team of legal eagles from Ysgol Bro Dinefwr are heading to New York to sharpen their skills and win renown for their school and the UK.

Thirteen pupils from the Towy Valley school will be representing the UK as they take part in the world renowned Empire Mock Trial competition in the Big Apple next week. They earned their place after a round of auditions held last July.

The team – made up students from years 12 and 13 – have been charged with learning an incredibly intricate case.

Marco Bonandrini, Sara Davies, Ellie Davies, Agatha Devlin, Hannah Doel, Harriet Ealden, Kaya Hooper, Shannon Isherwood, Harry Lloyd, Ozzie Major, Gwenllian Owen, Gwen Rees and Megan Thomas will fly out to New York next Thursday (October 22) for the three day event.

The World Championship of the Mock Trial competition is held annually in New York. In the same competition in an inaugural contest in San Francisco last year, Ysgol Bro Dinefwr returned with three trophies.

This year the school will compete head-to-head with 24 other teams from America, Ireland, Hong Kong, Korea and Canada.

Jane Harries, team coach and ERW’s Head of school collaboration, said: “The team are tackling some tricky legal issues which are completely different to those in UK law and will be pitched against US teams who have been competing on the mock trial circuit in preparation for this competition for many months, and in some cases years, giving them an obvious upfront advantage.

“They have a very complex case against a police department charged with wrongful shooting and encouraging a policy and practice that promotes the use of unjustifiable force. They are faced with the challenge of being either attorneys or witnesses, either defending or prosecuting the police department.”

Since July, the team has been busy arranging various fundraising events and would like to thank everyone who helped them raise the significant amount of money needed including many kind donations from various businesses and individuals that will allow them to take part in this life-changing experience.

Practices are regular with the team meeting most evenings and weekends whilst also trying to arrange fund raising activities to support them on this quest.

ERW – Education through Regional Working - is the regional school effectiveness service, driving school improvement and learner achievement across the combined area of six local authorities in the South West and Mid Wales region (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Powys, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot).