By James Simons-
’Dozens’ of suspects in the Uk could be released who might otherwise have been kept in custody due to the government’s failure to provide enough courts to hear jury trials before custody time limits expire, it has emerged.
The ruling could lead to thousands of defendants in custody, as the backlog of crown court cases has risen to more than 41,000 and a shortage of courts has caused delays of up to three years
The worrying scenario was expressed by lawyers as a Crown court judge ordered a man accused of drugs offences to be released from prison because the shortage of courtrooms meant his trial was unlikely to be heard until next year.
The sitting judge criticised the inadequacy of the government’s funding of the criminal justice system and its response to the pandemic, which meant that ’many defendants in custody will not be tried until well into 2021’.
In his ruling at Woolwich Crown Court, HHJ Raynor said: ’The delays in bringing cases to trial which are being experienced by the courts will not be alleviated by the current steps that are being taken by Her Majesty’s Court Service.’
Crown court case backlog has grown extremely high, exceeding, 41000 since the lockdown which put a hold on jury trials in March.
The British government said that despite the several closures of courtrooms, they have hired facilities at 10 sites to create extra ’Nightingale’ courts.
Delays
Sitting at Woolwich Crown Court, HHJ Raynor said: ’The delays in bringing cases to trial which are being experienced by the courts will not be alleviated by the current steps that are being taken by Her Majesty’s Court Service.’
The judge said that had ’sufficient investment been made to create dozens of additional courts to undertake criminal trials’, the disappointing situation might have been different.
His stark criticism came after a man accused of drugs offences who has been held in custody since his arrest, eight months ago, after two bail applications were refused. Lockdown meant that his trial in May was postponed and since then the court has twice extended the custody time limit.
The judge refusal of a third prosecution application to hold the suspected drug dealer prisoner, will set the grounds for several more releases of suspected prisoners by the courts in the weeks and months ahead.
Raynor said the lack of available courts to hear jury trials, added to the lack of money provided by parliament to provide sufficient space for trials did not amount to good enough reason.
He said he would prioritise cases according to the age and vulnerability of parties involved, and the seriousness of the charges.
However, he said because there were no factors that made this case a ’high priority’, there was no ’realistic prospect of this trial coming on soon’.
The man was released on bail with conditions including residence at a stated address and an electronically monitored curfew.
A spokesman for HM Courts & Tribunals Service said that 90% of court buildings are open, remote hearings have increased, urgent cases are being prioritised and millions of pounds is being invested in buildings and technology to ’keep justice going’.