Scrapping jury trials for some offences may be only way to clear court backlog, says CPS watchdog chief
“Removing the right to trial by jury” and “intermediate courts” may be the only way to clear the crown court backlog in England and Wales, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has said.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Anthony Rogers says “radical action” is needed urgently.
“The number of cases waiting to be heard in the crown courts is the highest it’s ever been.
“It’s bringing significant pressure into the whole system. Those we inspect, the Crown Prosecution Service, are under the greatest pressure I’ve ever seen in 25 years of the existence of the inspectorate.
“The thing that worries me more is I can’t see an end to it. I can only see an increasing backlog.”
There are 73,105 outstanding criminal cases waiting to be dealt with in the crown courts, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Rogers says: “If you’re going to fix a problem on this scale, it needs a radical solution.
“It could be anything from removing the right of election to jury trial.
“It could be looking at an intermediate court between the magistrates court and the crown court, radical could literally mean changing the way that we look at the criminal justice system.”
Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, speaks to Sky’s Ashna Hurynag
Both suggestions are being considered under a ‘once-in-a-generation’ independent review announced by the government last week.
Former High Court judge Sir Brian Leveson is leading the major justice review in an effort to tackle the delays.
The government says “nothing is off the table” as jury trials could be scrapped for some offences and “intermediate” middle-tier courts, made up of a judge and two magistrates, are being looked at.
Both are suggestions Mr Rogers says he would support.
“If you did that you would take 20,000 or 30,000 cases out of the backlog.
“You could start by having the simplest cases in the magistrate court, the more serious cases with probably a judge and two lay members in an intermediate court and then have the crown court reserved for the most serious offences like rape, murder, manslaughter, terrorism for example. That is radical, that would solve the problem.”
‘It was like the court was a circus and he was the ringmaster’
It’s a problem Vicki Crawford knows all too well.
Ms Crawford reported historic sexual abuse to the police in 2018. She reached out to Sky News after she waited five years and eight months for her trial to go ahead.
A gruelling wait, she bravely opened up about it.
“With every hearing and every court date, I was nervous and anxious. I had a headache, I felt sick, I couldn’t sleep. The run up to it was awful. I had nightmares. In the middle of the night, I would wake up having panic attacks. I just couldn’t eat, I just felt awful.”
Vicki Crawford, who has waived her right to anonymity, says her case took almost six years from reporting to sentencing
Ms Crawford’s abuser was jailed for seven years after the trial eventually went ahead in March this year.
She explained to Sky News it felt like he was profiting from the constant adjournments, while she was being tortured by it.
“It was like the court was a circus and he was the ringmaster.”
On at least one occasion the trial was adjourned because her perpetrator claimed to be unwell.
“For me, it felt like he had a lot of control over what was going on during the court process. And it was quite frustrating to watch somebody consistently say I can’t come to court today. For such a serious load of charges, I couldn’t quite understand how he was allowed to get away with that, like so many times.”
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As a survivor of sexual abuse, Ms Crawford is entitled to anonymity for life but told us her reason for waiving it.
“The reason I’m waiving my anonymity is because there are thousands of people just like me, look like me, talk like me, think like me, have the same experiences that I’m having in the court system. And nobody puts a face to those people, so, this is me.”
Watchdog warned of delays since 2019
Mr Rogers told Sky News that inspectors have been warning about delays since 2019.
The crisis in the criminal justice system is mirrored in almost every crown court in England and Wales.
In Leicester, Sky News spent time with barristers and court staff and observed delay after delay.
We heard from a judge so exasperated at cases being pushed back to 2026, witnessed crumbling court infrastructure, spoke to barristers fed up with constant adjournments and spoke to victims stuck in the middle.
An overhaul of the criminal justice system is coming – and for many, it can’t come soon enough.
A body has been found in the search for 23-year-old runner Jenny Hall.
She was last seen leaving her home in Barracks Farm, County Durham, in her car just after 3pm on Tuesday.
Police said there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances after a body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale on Sunday morning, five days after she went missing.
Jenny Hall went missing on Tuesday. Pic: Durham Constabulary
“We’re sorry to report that officers searching for missing woman Jenny Hall, have sadly found a body,” Durham Constabulary said in a statement.
“Officers carried out an extensive search alongside specialist partners and have been working around-the-clock to locate Jenny after she went missing on February 18.
“The body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale just after 9.30am today.
“Formal identification has yet to take place. Jenny’s family have been notified and are currently being supported by specialist officers. They have asked for privacy at this devasting time.
“It is not believed there are any suspicious circumstances and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”
A major police search was launched after Ms Hall’s disappearance.
Her car, a red Ford Focus, was found on Wednesday parked on the B6278, near remote moorland between Eggleston and Stanhope.
Mountain rescue teams, specialist drones and sniffer dogs had been combing the Hamsterley Forest and the surrounding areas, where there are a number of running trails, this week.
Digital intelligence officers also carried out extensive inquiries into Ms Hall’s mobile phone, smart watch and running apps.
A fresh amber weather warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office – with much of the UK already on alert for high winds and showers.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK’s west coast and the Midlands have yellow warnings for wind on Sunday – meaning the possibility of transport delays and short-term power cuts.
There are also rain warnings in place for several parts of western UK.
The new amber warning has been issued for rain in south and central Wales and is in force from 3pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday.
An amber warning means danger to life from floodwater, homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, and there is a chance some communities will be cut off.
Winds across the west of the UK will increase throughout the morning with gusts up to 70mph in exposed areas, the Met Office said.
Zoe Hutin, a meteorologist at the forecaster, said Sunday is expected to be the “worst day” before conditions improve.
“The wind warning itself for the mainland UK ends at 6pm, but we can expect to continue to see quite blustery conditions even into the evening as the mainland rain itself pushes through.”
She added: “By the time people get up on Monday, we’ll still have some of the residual rain from that front in the far south-east of the country, and quite cloudy across England as well.
“But actually elsewhere, it could be a decent start.”
The Met Office’s yellow weather warnings for much of England and Scotland came into force at 6am and are expected to run until 6pm on Sunday.
A separate yellow warning for Northern Ireland came into force at 3am and runs until 3pm.
Rain and high winds are expected across the west of the UK
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People who have noticed some slightly higher temperatures the last couple of days may be dismayed at the latest predictions.
“Through the week, those temperatures are trending back down,” Ms Hutin said.
“And so it will be getting cooler each day, but they will actually just be recovering to around average for the time of year. So it won’t be cold.
“It will just be returning back to where we would expect to be for this time of February.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said the United States “is right” about the UK and Europe needing to take more responsibility for defence and security.
The prime minister, speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, said he is clear Britain “will take a leading responsibility” in protecting the continent.
“Instability in Europe always washes up on our shores,” he said.
“And this is a generational moment. I’ve been saying for some time that we Europeans – including the United Kingdom – have to do more for our defence and security. The US is right about that.”
He added “we can’t cling to the comforts of the past” as it is “time to take responsibility for our security”.
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Donald Trump sparked an emergency meeting of European leaders this week after he said European NATO members should spend more on defence, while the US should spend less.
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Sir Keir has said he will set out a path for the UK to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence, up from the current 2.3%, but has not indicated when that will be.
It is believed he may announce the details when he visits Mr Trump in Washington DC on Thursday, bringing forward the announcement that was expected in the spring when a defence spending review is published.
The prime minister reiterated the UK will “play our role” if required in Ukraine following a peace agreement after he earlier this week said the UK would send troops to be part of a peacekeeping force.
Sir Keir will meet Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday. Pic: AP
However, his comments caused a row with Germany and Italy who said it was premature to commit to boots on the ground, although France agreed with the UK.
Sir Keir said: “As we enter a new phase in this conflict, we must now deepen our solidarity even further.”
He added: “There can be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine.
“And the people of Ukraine must have long-term security.”
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This week has seen US officials meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia to discuss Ukraine – which has been met with indignation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as none of his team were invited.
No Europeans were invited either, sparking concern the US is pandering to Vladimir Putin.
Sir Keir has promised Mr Zelenskyy he will make the case for safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty when he meets with Mr Trump, who has called the Ukrainian president a dictator.
Mr Trump also said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, who will visit the White House too this week, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
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