Hi OP.
So, I've only ever been to the tribunal once (but it was for a box junction and I won although the adjudicator was in my opinion unnecessarily brusque and confrontational - hopefully you will get a less agitated one!) so others are perhaps better qualified to answer this.
For me, and bearing in mind we think you are starting from a winning position, the key things are not to:
- say anything which undermines your credibility, so don't exaggerate, try to mislead, or say anything which is clearly contradicted by the video footage
- say anything that inadvertently suggests you are admitting the offence which (to remind you) is to enter the box such that you have to stop within the box due to stationary vehicles.
Re the latter, the key points are:
- it is not (necessarily) an offence to stop in the box (whatever Redbridge may think)
- if you stop for any reason other than because stationary vehicles force you to then that's not punishable
- consequently, because there is a vehicle sized gap in front of you when you enter the box and also when you stop, you shouldn't be penalised.
You shouldn't focus on (or really bring up) the fact you stopped for 'only' 7 seconds as this isn't relevant (any stop even for less than a second is an offence the way the law is written) so this could distract the adjudicator into thinking that your argument is that you should be let off for only committing an offence for a short time, when your argument is that you didn't commit a contravention in the first place.
You may be asked why you entered the box junction in the first place and then stopped in it, so be prepared for that. If there is a reason, then that might help (e.g. because you saw traffic ahead coming to a standstill so wanted to let in the vehicle approaching from the left but then realised you were blocking the exit for the car wanting to turn in from the right) but better just to say you can't remember than to make something up which could lead the adjudicator to think you are being economical with the truth. Ultimately it doesn't really matter why you did if you didn't commit an offence in doing so.
Finally, if you think the adjudicator isn't being sympathetic to this line of defence, don't forget the other item you included in your original challenge around the location being far too vague. This is especially true given you live so far away and so wouldn't be familiar with the locality from the video or photos.
Ultimately, Hippocrates is very experienced so you are in very good hands
