UNPUBLISHED CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE STATISTICS RE "NOT GUILTY" LONDON TRIAL VERDICTS

 

16. Mar. 2010. – 12:43:29

Arresting suspected criminals is the job of the Police. Bringing suspected criminals to court and offering evidence against them if they plead not guilty is the job of the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS operates within a strictly defined code.

Very many defendants plead guilty at various stages from arrest or even when their trial is about to begin. I am not about to consider this category. This post is about those who have pleaded not guilty and proceed to trial at Magistrates` Courts in London.

Discussing trial outcomes with colleagues and senior officers in other areas of the criminal justice system it was suggested that I endeavour to ascertain the proportion of those found not guilty after trial at Magistrates` Courts. Subsequent conversations showed that the publication of such statistics ceased in 1999. However this blogger has been given figures for the last three years which are cause for concern.
Today's report from the BBC also expresses that concern and here are the figures which prove that concern is well founded:-

The overall figure for London`s Magistrates` Courts where the defendants are found not guilty after trial is 36.96% Disregarding those London magistrates courts where the numbers are too low to be meaningful the latest statistics for those found Not Guilty after trial vary from 13.88% at Wimbledon MC to 81.82 at Acton MC.

NAME OF MAGISTRATES` COURT                                                   % FOUND NOT GUILTY

Wimbledon                                                                        13.88
Richmond                                                                           14.92
Harrow                                                                               16.41
Bromley                                                                              17.41
Havering                                                                             17.61
Bexley                                                                                 20.81
Barking                                                                               21.38
Acton                                                                                  81.82
Greenwich                                                                          78.03
Thames                                                                               76.86
Woolwich                                                                           75.60
Highgate                                                                             75.56
Kingston                                                                             75.52
Enfield                                                                                75.25
Ealing                                                                                  73.56
Camberwell Green                                                                                    73.33
South West                                                                          72.46
Highbury                                                                             71.27
Sutton                                                                                  71.09

West London                                                                      70.20                      

I make no attempt to explain those figures but they do require to be explained by one more versed in the subject than I. And certainly CPS London should be focusing their minds if they are not already doing so on why such variations exist.

• NO HALF MEASURES; IF YOU DRINK A TEASPOONFUL AND DRIVE YOU`RE GUILTY 

15. Mar. 2010. – 16:05:41

Like every magistrate and judge I am bound to follow legal practice and make appropriate decisions whether or not I am personally in agreement with the necessary application.  If I am faced with applying legislation of which I heartily disapprove I can resign; that is my choice.  When the matter under consideration is driving with excess alcohol [drink driving] I am applying a series of laws of which I heartily approve. The fact that a drunk driver caused the death of somebody close to me was a personal reminder just how necessary is such legislation.

Therefore it was disturbing to me that  a report in The Sunday Times [14 th March]   indicated that the government plans to cut the legal limit to 50mg alcohol in 100ml blood from the current level of 80mg and perhaps reduce the driving disqualification for those guilty,  from the minimum twelve months if their alcohol level fell within the new reduced limit.  It might be thought odd that I describe this news as "disturbing".  There is not a driver who does not know that part of the punishment for drink driving is a ban of at least one year.  Those who drink and drive deserve no pity.  To achieve the current level usually more than one pint or two glasses of wine or spirits is needed.  The drink driver is highly culpable.  If a reduced blood alcohol level were to be  introduced it is possible in my opinion for that culpability  to be considered at a lower level,..... "I only had half a pint your worship......."  Worse still would be if the introduction of penalty points instead of disqualification became an option. This would be an encouragement to have just a "small one".

If this government is considering another pre-election announcement it should be zero tolerance for drink driving ...ie anything other than a zero level of alcohol in blood would be considered enough to convict [medical cases excepted as is the case occasionally at present].  Culpability would then continue be at its highest with very very few occasions allowing anything but an automatic disqualification as now of twelve months.

 

NEED TO PEE IN CITY OF WESTMINSTER?

 

12. Mar. 2010. – 14:09:05

The capital's biggest ever crackdown on people urinating in the street saw 12 shamed-faced revellers face magistrates after being caught red-handed in Westminster.

They were all sentenced and fined a total of £1900 by the court, with fines ranging from £50 - £250, after either being found guilty or admitting to the offence of urinating in a public place following a crackdown by Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police in the run up to Christmas.

The above is an extract from a report on the City of Westminster website.  It does not seem unreasonable one might think.  However next time you eat and drink in a cafe or sandwich bar in the same City of Westminster and feel required to relieve yourself bear in mind that such establishments do not require to have lavatory facilities for their customers.  Such is the state of joined up government in the London Borough which hosts the Houses of Parliament.

VIRTUAL COURT MELTDOWN

 12. Mar. 2010. – 12:48:22

I have written previously of virtual courts  based on the principle that taking justice away from the courtroom where it belongs so that apart  from exceptional circumstances all can participate "in the flesh" and imposing in its place remote access is a technological and social step too far.

The Law Society Gazette reports today that the whole system being piloted in Camberwell Green Magistrates` Court went into "meltdown" last month.  This is just another nail in the history of this government`s rushing into IT projects which benefit nobody except the pockets of IT specialists, IT  companies and their shareholders.  I have today instructed my GP to withhold my details from being inputted into the NHS Summary Care Records program.  I would suggest that anyone who believes rightly or wrongly that the state is becoming dictatorially oppressive goes to BIG BROTHER WATCH

NO SECURITY AT MAGISTRATES` COURTS

 

12. Mar. 2010. – 12:04:37

Hendon Magistrates Court is situated in North West London amidst private and council houses, offices, light industrial units and many car showrooms..........a typical court  in a typical building.  And as is the case in most......perhaps all, but that would be only a reasoned presumption............courtrooms, bar the main remand court,  there are no permanently placed security personnel or police officers.  Contrast that with the courts  I have visited in America and the Caribbean where there is always at least one armed police officer on duty.

Earlier this week an irate member of the public left the public gallery at Hendon Court and entered the courtroom mouthing abuse at the three JPs on the Bench. He was restrained by a defending solicitor and rapidly ran from court.  The magistrates had left the court for their own safety.  This is not an uncommon occurrence.  My own colleagues have faced similar actions and threats to kill from in the courtroom and without.  The security of a courtroom and those within is paramount for the effective process of our open justice system.  Until a judge or magistrate is killed in court there is no chance whatsoever of requisite security being available.

YET MORE CRIME STATISTICS BUT ARE WE ANY NEARER THE TRUTH?

 

09. Mar. 2010. – 11:13:01

My repeated comments on the need for respected audited crime statistics which would provide a solid base for discussions and proposals on what is one of the most important concerns of voters come once again to the fore with the publication of figures by the Independent Commons Library.  These show a 44% increase in violent crime since Labour came to power.  Tory and Liberal spokesmen will make a sumptuous meal of this latest  piece of numerical juggling.  It is truly medieval akin to the study of chickens` entrails by the three witches that figures mean what the speaker wants them to mean.  It is an insult to our intelligence that all political parties  are eager to play this game.

COURTS STAFF ON STRIKE

 9 Mar. 2010. – 10:50:43

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) went on strike yesterday [continuing today]for the second time in the last few years. I was in court all day yesterday and whatever was happening in the boiler rooms of office administration at the surface disruption was minimal. I do not know how many of our legally qualified and other staff stayed at home but there were no picket lines and a visitor from Mars would have been hard put to detect any change in normal procedures. 

Of the six scheduled courts one went down but all trials went ahead. Since the creation of  Her Majesty`s Court Service all legal advisers` contracts allow for them to be sent to any court in our cluster and sitting with two such people for the first time was an interesting experience. One had previously been heavily involved in IT in a previous life and her use of the computer on her desk made us sit up in amazement like meerkats in the TV ads at what could be accomplished by one whose fingers moved at warp speed. Our experience in the afternoon sitting was equally stimulating insofar as his authoritative position in front of us and his megaphone tones combined with an encyclopaedic knowledge [not to belittle our regulars] was stimulating for all advocates present as well as the bench.

The top management also took their places in the courtrooms. In fact I think they enjoyed being once again in the thick of it.