policecourt

His methods of teaching me English was to make me read aloud the policecourt news in The Standard and I can still remember the horror with which I read the ghastly details of a murder in the train between Paris and Calais.

The Summing Up Maugham, W Somerset 1938

A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the policecourt, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band 1892

We dived into the City, and came up in a crowded policecourt, where a blood-relation (in the murderous sense) of the deceased with the fanciful taste in brooches, was standing at the bar, uncomfortably chewing something; while my guardian had a woman under examination or cross-examination - I don't know which - and was striking her, and the bench, and everybody present, with awe.

Great Expectations Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 1861