Trial delays Deadline set for Nightingale Court
ADEADLINE has been set for the Government to decide whether Cirencester Magistrates’ Court should be reopened to help clear a backlog of criminal cases before the offer of its use is retracted.
The Government previously said the town’s courthouse would reopen in October as a “Nightingale Court” but Gloucester Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl, who owns the building, told councillors “no progress has been made”.
Mr Surl, who offered it to the Government earlier this year, said he has given officials until Friday, November 27, to make a decision otherwise he will withdraw his offer.
Speaking at Gloucestershire’s police and crime panel, Mr Surl said court cases were rising daily and there were now “well over 1,100” cases waiting to be heard in the county.
The Ministry of Justice announced in September the town’s court building, which was closed in 2012 by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), would reopen as a Nightingale Court to respond to the pandemic, along with eight other courts in the country, some of which were theatres and hotels being converted into courtrooms.
Political opponents have argued the courtroom is “unsafe” and needs more “essential work” than Mr Surl says, while he said his office’s surveyor believes it will cost just £25,000 to reopen its doors, excluding staff and IT.
Mr Surl said in the meeting: “We are going well above what we are supposed to do.
“You would have thought they would have snapped our hands off for it, I do not know any other location that is better than to revamp a court which is already there.”
Mr Surl also said that the backlog means local high-profile cases risk not getting through the system and defendants pleading not guilty to prolong a hearing.
He said: “It is trials that are the main problem. People who have been processed by the police and they dispute their guilt to a degree, we have several quite high-profile cases coming through.
“As people know, if you cannot get trials through the court perhaps they think they can say, ‘Tell you what, I will plead not guilty then. It will be 2022 before this happens by which time the witnesses would have gone off the boil. Move on with life’. This is a really big issue.”
Committee chair Councillor Colin Hay (LD, All Saints and Oakley) said in the meeting the backlog of cases was “simply not good enough and it needs to be resolved”.
He said: “In a sense, the effect of not having justice that is timely is really important to the levels of crime both in this county and elsewhere.
“One of the issues in this is the magistrates’ courts find it very difficult to be Covid-secure, and that is why the number of cases is drastically reduced.
“We need more space, that is what it comes down to. Albeit it is all being done by video and the solicitors are in
Cirencester Magistrates’ Court, which closed in 2012 their offices, the magistrates still have to sit in court.
“Years ago, there were courts which used civic buildings like village halls or whatever. It has been done before, there is a good court in Cirencester and other places.
“I absolutely agree we should really push this. Frankly, guilty people are getting off if justice is delayed, that is justice denied.
“You have victims of domestic violence having to wait potentially years for this to come to court. It is simply not good enough and it needs to be resolved.”
In 2010 HMCTS began a national reform programme which saw courts closed across the country.
Among the courts lost in Gloucestershire were Cirencester Magistrates’, Cheltenham County and Coleford Magistrates’ courts leaving just the magistrates’ court in Cheltenham, Gloucester Crown Court and a combined civil and family court in Gloucester as well.
You have victims of domestic violence having to wait potentially years for this to come to court. It is simply not good enough Councillor Colin Hay