The #SingleJusticeProcedure remains resolutely broken
This is my story of a pensioner, 86, being convicted for a typo on her car insurance forms
Government consulted, judges are auditing, a committee is assessing
Meanwhile, things like this keep happening
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...
Child rape trial delayed after a plug explodes under the prosecutor's bench
Sparks flying, strong smell of burning, a lawyer lucky not to have been electrocuted
But in a sign of how we simply cope with terrible court decay, the prosecutor took a minute, moved along the bench & got on with case prep
Judge: "Jury service is a really vital aspect of democracy in this country, that serious cases in the Crown Court are tried by members of the public prepared to give up their time and sit in judgement of their fellow citizens.
"It's a pretty awesome responsibility."
New Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow KC uses her inaugural speech to call for Single Justice Procedure reform
"No doubt the SJP offends fundamental principles of fairness...issuing fines to the most vulnerable people in
circumstances where they should not be prosecuted."
The possible solutions are obvious, in my opinion, if not necessarily simple.
Improve the prison transport service, toughen up the system of penalties for late arrival
Hire more staff at courts
Make sure every court has an x-ray scanner at front door security
Monday morning, the van from HMP Wormwood Scrubs hasn't arrived so the 11am sentence is delayed
Lawyers for a defendant accused of rape can't get into the cells to see him, so the 12pm trial will be delayed
And lawyers are complaining about how long it took to get into the building this morning
Ministers are now under pressure from campaigners to halt the warrants process until the system has been fixed
The Chief Magistrate is already investigating
Here's my original report from @thelondonstandard.bsky.social
www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/magi...
Three years ago, a scandal broke about energy companies & forced prepayment meters
The response to that scandal is disturbing
Magistrates now approve applications for warrants that they've never seen
And they do almost all this in secret
My PA report today:
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news...
Bedbound disabled woman struggling after cancer death of husband faces TV Licence prosecution
#SingleJusticeProcedure
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...
Today is my final day as the Standard's Courts Correspondent
After a decade, it's time for a new challenge
I'll continue to cover the courts & remain obsessed with open justice
The joy of this job has been working with very talented & hard-working people who I will miss a lot
Disturbing findings from a year-long @thelondonstandard.bsky.social investigation
- Magistrates routinely sit in secret to approve utility warrants
- They don't even look at most applications
- Rule breaches aren't investigated
Chief Magistrate looking into this
www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/magi...
Empty docks, shuttered courtrooms, missing evidence - The real reasons for London’s crippling court delays
My long read for @thelondonstandard.bsky.social
www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
A mugger who spent a week robbing people on the Tube is in the dock to be sentenced
Judge is here, lawyers are here, police are here, probation is here. I'm here
But the interpreter is not here
Adjourned to Jan
That's actual delay in the justice system
Someone should fix it
Beware fast-track justice. This is what it does
The mum is bounced around, getting no help or answers, then just enters a guilty plea for her distressed autistic teenage son to get it over with
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/a...
Bedbound pensioner, 84, gets criminal conviction over car insurance
It's a harsh illustration of the broken justice system
When will MPs step up and fix it?
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...
A pensioner with dementia gets a criminal conviction over an unpaid TV Licence
This one is pretty heartbreaking
The #SingleJusticeProcedure is broken
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...
SJP notices offer guilty/not guilty. No option to get in touch and question validity of the case. Many tick 'guilty' then put in the mitigation box info that calls whole case into question
Mags should be sending cases back when they see info like this, not accepting the guilty plea. That's a choice
True. It's a tough job
But imagine finding out the bathroom sink is leaking & doing nothing
Not stopping using it, not finding a temporary fix til you've time to do something permanent. Just doing nothing
When that kind of negligence goes on & on, it needs highlighting or nothing will ever happen
So that's a six-month failure to fix the system.
A system which is acknowledged to be broken, and in the meantime around 400,000 people have been prosecuted.
It was the Conservatives fault. They created the system, and then ignored the consequences when they were pointed out.
But now it is Labour responsibility.
There was a consultation that ended in May on possible changes, lots of ppl pointed out how it could be fixed, then nothing for 6 months
Teenager prosecuted over £1.67 in unpaid tax on a car.
A criminal conviction for an offence that happened before she knew she even owned a car.
Infuriating that this kind of thing is still happening
Labour has failed to fix the #SingleJusticeProcedure
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...
Ex-Reform UK leader in Wales jailed for ten-and-a-half years for taking Russian bribes
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/r...
Earl Spencer stalker posed as BBC podcaster in 'fixated' pursuit of the aristocrat and his son
www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/earl...
Always a delight to get an invite from @quietriotpod.bsky.social
Problems in justice go beyond crumbling courts to the disintegration of the fabric of the system
And politicians aren't being honest with the public about how to fix it
Have a listen!
Excl: Earl Spencer came face-to-face with a suspected stalker who was "fixated" on meeting his son
www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/earl...
Losing a loved one is hard. Coping with grief is harder for some than others.
In a compassionate society, a grieving person with mental health struggles who hasn’t paid a household bill would be helped, not convicted of a crime
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...
I was in court today for a hearing of the prisoner accidentally set free from jail. He wasn't there.
It is a case study in the terrible communication between prisons, courts, and the immigration system. Absolutely atrocious, but equally not that surprising
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...
The Criminal Justice System in this country is fundamentally broken. Trials will soon be set in 2030, victims are losing faith, prisons are full, and crimes may be going unsolved
My long read for this week's @thelondonstandard.bsky.social
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/b...
I'm writing today about the broken Criminal Justice System
For a boost, I bought a coffee from the Old Bailey's canteen, which was downgraded recently to a vending machine
The machine promised an overpriced latte, then spewed out a black coffee with no milk
Is this the metaphor my article needs?
