Lady Carr, head of the judiciary in England and Wales, today announced the terms of reference for the Transparency and Open Justice Board.

This is welcome, but it does not fill me with hope that there are no journalists or editors on the board (yet): judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…

1/x

County Durham man prosecuted over an unpaid TV Licence. He suffered a stroke, affecting his memory

The magistrate spared him a fine, but he still gets a criminal conviction

He needed extra help, but the fast-track #SingleJusticeProcedure isn't set up for that

Kevan Jones

A 13-year-old girl has appeared at Llanelli Magistrates Court charged with the attempted murder of two members of staff and a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford / Rhydaman. ⬇️ walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-new…

In “how’s your day going news” a sodden, disintegrating ceiling tile fell on me in the loo at the Employment Tribunal.

A lawyer & a court observer have been physically thrown out of Stratford magistrates' court (separately). In neither case is it clear they did anything wrong. Has court security overstepped the line? transformjustice.org.uk/news-insight/t…

Breaking: 'Russian spy' accused of orchestrating arson attack on London businesses with ties to Ukraine standard.co.uk/news/crime/esp…

If the fast-track justice system is fixed, I’ll stop finding these types of cases. Then I won’t be able to report on them.

Until then, assume the system is broken.
#SinglesJusticeProcedure

Frail 91-year-old prosecuted via Single Justice Procedure over unpaid car insurance

He was ill, struggling, then hospitalised

It's fast-track justice - DVLA won't have seen the step-daughter's letter

An avoidable criminal conviction

One for his MP Simon Hart to look into?

Ex-Post Office executive Angela van den Bogerd refuses to apologise for her role in the Horizon IT scandal

She's sorry for 'devastation' caused by the scandal, but is keen to shift the blame elsewhere and says she didn't 'knowingly do anything wrong'

standard.co.uk/news/uk/post-o…

Met Police officer quits in disgrace after being accused of cyber-flashing a colleague and sending sexual messages to strangers on a train standard.co.uk/news/london/me…

The Lord Chancellor has promised Single Justice Procedure reform and says 'Fairness is non-negotiable'

Last week a domestic violence victim received a criminal conviction over unpaid car insurance, after writing this letter to the court

Change isn't happening fast enough

Cyclist death: Car driver Tiffany Treanor-Johnson, 25, pictured, appeared at Thames magistrates court this morning in connection with the alleged hit-and-run death of music student Harry Webb, 27, in Kenworthy Road, Hackney, last September. Case adjourned until July 24th.

This is disturbing, and a result of court security sometimes effectively inventing their own rules

Football agent ‘implied threat of physical intimidation in Kurt Zouma transfer email’ standard.co.uk/news/crime/kur…

Just off for a hearing in a rape case. Allegation reported in 2021, trial not before 2025, if we’re all lucky.

No podium speeches from the Prime Minister about this. No promises to magic up more judges, courts or lawyers.

Just silence, and the threat of further cuts to come.

There's been a sharp increase over the last 3 years in the number of abandoned criminal trials because no judge is available.

This includes 21 rape trials in 2023.

Judges can be made available for political priority policies, it seems.
Maybe tackling crime isn't a priority.

Two charged with alleged spying for China.

Allegedly 'obtained, collected, recorded, published, or communicated... articles, notes, documents or information, which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, useful to an enemy'

In court on Friday

Lucy Letby in bid to appeal against convictions on four grounds, court told standard.co.uk/news/crime/luc…

Thank you The Press Awards #PressAwards we’re so proud of this particularly because it rewards court reporting. The Trial Podcast shines a light on the process and the cases showing the very best and very worst of human behaviour and never forgets the victims. The Trial Podcast