Criminals Taking Advantage of ‘Scandalous Delays’ in UK Courts: Senior Magistrate

An undated image of Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in Essex, England. Gareth Fuller/PA

Criminals are opting for crown court trials, rather than hearings before magistrates, in the hope that “scandalous delays” will force victims and witnesses to give up and withdraw their statements, according to Britain’s most senior magistrate.

Mark Beattie, the new chairman of the Magistrates Association, told The Telegraph defendants were playing the system by opting for crown court, knowing the huge backlog could mean their trial would not take place for two years. In the meantime they remain out on bail.

In magistrates’ courts cases were usually heard within six weeks, but he said some people were pleading not guilty and opting for crown court trials in the hope that victims would withdraw their statements or witnesses would have a less reliable recollection of events two years down the line.

Among the offences which are triable in magistrates or crown courts are burglary, theft, fraud, bribery, assault, stalking, harassment, public disorder, possession of drugs, indecent exposure, and voyeurism.

Offences such as rape, manslaughter, and murder can only be tried in a crown court.

Delays to trials in the crown courts grew longer during the pandemic and the barristers’ strike has exacerbated the problems.

‘The Delays Are Scandalous’

Beattie, who sits as a justice of the peace (JP) in north London, said: “The delays are scandalous. An offence going into the crown court has a victim. For that person who may have suffered a serious, violent or sexual offence, to have to worry for that length of time about going into court, giving evidence and what they might be asked, that cannot be right.”

He said, “If you had something where you might get to trial in six or eight weeks in a magistrates court, and you know that it’s going to be 2024 before it’s a crown court trial, which would you pick?”

Magistrates have succeeded in bringing down the backlog in their cases by 100,000 to below 350,000 since the peak of the pandemic, despite being 5,000 JPs short of their target of 17,000 in post.

The Magistrates Association say they have helped bring down the backlog of cases by 100,000 since the pandemic, but they say there is a shortage of JPs and this week they launched a campaign to persuade the government to put more money into the magistrates court system.

Magistrates are paid £107.97 ($123) a day, but Beattie said it is hard to recruit and retain JPs considering the workload and the stress involved.

The Ministry of Justice has increased the retirement age for magistrates to 70 and the government has introduced legislation to allow them to sentence offenders for up to a year in jail, up from six months.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told The Telegraph there was no evidence of defendants playing the system.

He said: “We have deployed a range of measures to reduce the backlog by over 2,000 from its pandemic-induced peak. Magistrates’ vital work keeps justice moving which is why we recently increased their allowances and are investing over £1 million to support the recruitment of new magistrates.”