Police chief pushing for Northamptonshire 'Nightingale courts' as trial backlogs become 'unacceptable'

The county's most senior police officer has said that the huge backlog of cases at our courts is 'unacceptable'

Crown and magistrates courts in Northampton - which serve the entire county - already had a profusion of cases before coronavirus hit due in part to the closure of local magistrates courts and austerity cuts that hit the number of judge sitting days.

But coronavirus has worsened the situation and at the end of May the Lord Chief Justice estimated there was a national backlog of 40,000 crown court cases - which will rise with each passing month.

Kevin McGinty, chief inspector of HM Crown Prosecution Service, has said that the glut could take a decade to clear.

Although Northampton Crown Court remained operational as a skeleton court through most of lockdown, with hadr-working advocates, defendants and witnesses often appearing via video link, jury trials were suspended on March 23 and only cleared to resume on July 6. Because of the layout of the court rooms, the building can only accommodate one socially-distanced jury trial at a time.

This means many trials planned for the past four months have had to be delayed, leaving innocent until found guilty defendants languishing in prisons, victims living in limbo and witnesses having to remember events that may be months or years old.

Advocates for defendants at Northampton Crown Court have regularly used the fact their client has waited so long for justice as mitigation when seeking a lesser sentence from judges.

Dozens of cases each day at Northampton Magistrates' Court are moved to different days because there is no time to hear them.

Although some areas have talked of setting up temporary 'Nightingale' courts, only one temporary criminal court is currently operating, in London. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has suggested holding some trials without juries, but this proposal has been met with widespread fury, most notably from the legal profession.

Our reporter asked the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police Nick Adderley what effect he believed the significant delays were having on outcomes for his force.

He said: "I would describe this as a real critical issue that we have to work very closely and very carefully on with the court services.

"Ministers are working hard and looking at setting up 'Nightingale' courts.

"We're pushing hard to make sure we get Nightingale courts and the reality is that the backlog is substantial now and what that means is a number of trials that would be set now (are set) for the next eighteen months to two years down the line.

"That's unacceptable. Its been recognised as being unacceptable to government, it's certainly unacceptable to me as chief constable and there's a number of reasons for that.

"One, you're asking victims and witnesses to wait that length of time before they can have their case heard. No good.

"The second thing is that we could lose a number of trials because memory fades over time. It doesn't matter what your statement may say, that's just to refresh memory but there is nothing better than getting quick and effective and efficient justice than to hopefully secure the right outcome, whatever that may be.

"I am worried about it, nationally we're worried about it, we are working closely with court services and we will continue to do so."