Child rape trial delayed after a plug explodes under the prosecutor's bench Sparks flying, strong smell of burning, a lawyer lucky not to have been electrocuted But in a sign of how we simply cope with terrible court decay, the prosecutor took a minute, moved along the bench & got on with case prep

Judge: "Jury service is a really vital aspect of democracy in this country, that serious cases in the Crown Court are tried by members of the public prepared to give up their time and sit in judgement of their fellow citizens. "It's a pretty awesome responsibility."

New Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow KC uses her inaugural speech to call for Single Justice Procedure reform "No doubt the SJP offends fundamental principles of fairness...issuing fines to the most vulnerable people in circumstances where they should not be prosecuted."

Monday morning, the van from HMP Wormwood Scrubs hasn't arrived so the 11am sentence is delayed Lawyers for a defendant accused of rape can't get into the cells to see him, so the 12pm trial will be delayed And lawyers are complaining about how long it took to get into the building this morning

Three years ago, a scandal broke about energy companies & forced prepayment meters The response to that scandal is disturbing Magistrates now approve applications for warrants that they've never seen And they do almost all this in secret My PA report today: www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Bedbound disabled woman struggling after cancer death of husband faces TV Licence prosecution #SingleJusticeProcedure www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

Today is my final day as the Standard's Courts Correspondent After a decade, it's time for a new challenge I'll continue to cover the courts & remain obsessed with open justice The joy of this job has been working with very talented & hard-working people who I will miss a lot

Disturbing findings from a year-long @thelondonstandard.bsky.social investigation - Magistrates routinely sit in secret to approve utility warrants - They don't even look at most applications - Rule breaches aren't investigated Chief Magistrate looking into this www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/magi...

Empty docks, shuttered courtrooms, missing evidence - The real reasons for London’s crippling court delays My long read for @thelondonstandard.bsky.social www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

A mugger who spent a week robbing people on the Tube is in the dock to be sentenced Judge is here, lawyers are here, police are here, probation is here. I'm here But the interpreter is not here Adjourned to Jan That's actual delay in the justice system Someone should fix it

Beware fast-track justice. This is what it does The mum is bounced around, getting no help or answers, then just enters a guilty plea for her distressed autistic teenage son to get it over with www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/a...

Bedbound pensioner, 84, gets criminal conviction over car insurance It's a harsh illustration of the broken justice system When will MPs step up and fix it? www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...

A pensioner with dementia gets a criminal conviction over an unpaid TV Licence This one is pretty heartbreaking The #SingleJusticeProcedure is broken www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...

Teenager prosecuted over £1.67 in unpaid tax on a car. A criminal conviction for an offence that happened before she knew she even owned a car. Infuriating that this kind of thing is still happening Labour has failed to fix the #SingleJusticeProcedure www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

Ex-Reform UK leader in Wales jailed for ten-and-a-half years for taking Russian bribes www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/r...

Earl Spencer stalker posed as BBC podcaster in 'fixated' pursuit of the aristocrat and his son www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/earl...

Always a delight to get an invite from @quietriotpod.bsky.social Problems in justice go beyond crumbling courts to the disintegration of the fabric of the system And politicians aren't being honest with the public about how to fix it Have a listen!

Excl: Earl Spencer came face-to-face with a suspected stalker who was "fixated" on meeting his son www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/earl...

Losing a loved one is hard. Coping with grief is harder for some than others. In a compassionate society, a grieving person with mental health struggles who hasn’t paid a household bill would be helped, not convicted of a crime www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

I was in court today for a hearing of the prisoner accidentally set free from jail. He wasn't there. It is a case study in the terrible communication between prisons, courts, and the immigration system. Absolutely atrocious, but equally not that surprising www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...

The Criminal Justice System in this country is fundamentally broken. Trials will soon be set in 2030, victims are losing faith, prisons are full, and crimes may be going unsolved My long read for this week's @thelondonstandard.bsky.social www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/b...

I'm writing today about the broken Criminal Justice System For a boost, I bought a coffee from the Old Bailey's canteen, which was downgraded recently to a vending machine The machine promised an overpriced latte, then spewed out a black coffee with no milk Is this the metaphor my article needs?

More trouble for HMP Chelmsford, the prison which accidentally set free a sex offender: One of the inmates died when staff filed to spot he was a known suicide risk www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/hmp-...

Politicians have simplistic solutions to crime - lock everyone up, and for longer They then have a casual indifference to what happens once the cell door is shut This weekend's crisis over the prisoner wrongly released is symptomatic of a broken system www.standard.co.uk/comment/sex-...

You've being summonsed to court, you believe it is wrong/malicious, and a suspected abuse of the justice system The court's answer: Come to court to argue your case, face the person who summonsed you anyway, and pay £300 for the privilege The county courts in this country have some issues....

Commons Speaker made extraordinary intervention so that Labour minister didn't have to go face-to-face in court with a trans woman she says was harassing her www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/c...

Pensioner with dementia living in a care home is convicted in our broken court system over a £43 car bill www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p... I’ve been writing versions of this story for more than two years now. If politicians were interested in helping vulnerable people, they would act

A court has requested a Latin interpreter for today's sentencing hearing LATIN (AMERICAN) INTERPRETER REQUIRED Luckily they added (American), and someone who speaks Spanish has turned up. Otherwise the interpreter might have spent the day translating legal asides, but not much else

Baby P's mother Tracey Connelly says 'I was a crap mum' in latest bid for release from jail A big understatement, you might think This hearing was a good example of why open justice is important. Public Parole Board hearings are a great innovation www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/b...

The Ministry of Justice has been convicted of a crime and fined £1,000, in a closed-door court hearing the department itself was apparently not aware was happening www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/m...

City of London police officer who posted sexist, ableist, and homophobic comments on Twitter is allowed to keep job www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/c...

Open Justice. Why are these journalists fighting secrecy in the courts? Join @sanchia7.bsky.social & @kirkkorner.bsky.social at @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social @mediacomgold.bsky.social for a revealing discussion. Reception afterwards. All welcome. Details below 👇🏽https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=15603

Watch: Police officer guilty of assault for grabbing teenage fare dodger by her neck www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/p...

MPs demand answers as to why the Chinese 'spies' case collapsed Wish them the best, but being realistic, CPS pulls the plug on cases & often offers no explanation Something vague about evidential test not met, maybe These two have been treated no differently. www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/c...

Turn up to court, judge starts to hear the case I’m interested in, staff have forgotten to unlock the doors. Been a while since this happened… #SecretJustice

We have a system of justice which is secretive, known to be flawed and unfair, and week-by-week lands very vulnerable people with harsh criminal convictions And we have a government which is content for that to keep happening www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

Teenagers charged over TfL cyber attack www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon sentenced to 14 years in prison each for killing their baby while on the run www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/c...

TV presenter Jay Blades gets an apology from a judge, as his trial on rape charges is set for 2027. "It's not a proper justice system....", admits the judge www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/j...

Dutch football legend Edgar Davids' art collection raided by fraudster www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/e...

An offer to plead guilty to ABH charges is sent to the CPS on September 2 Six days later, it's the plea hearing in court And the case is then adjourned for a week, because no one actively reads emails sent to that account Efforts bringing defendant to court, lawyers & judge in court Total waste

Got an FOI back from the Ministry of Justice It came with a curious addition - a couple of (irrelevant) lines from an MoJ press release Either press officers are intervening in FOIs to insert quotes Or the FOI team is doing it of their own volition Neither option is good

Comedy writer and activist Graham Linehan faces trial today over claims he harassed a trans activist online and broke a mobile phone during a confrontation www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/g...

TV licence conviction for 'homeless' man caring for disabled and partially sighted friend #SingleJusticeProcedure www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

'Shame' of judge who had sex in Chambers www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/judg...

Breaking news on the Epping hotel: A High Court judge has granted an injunction on the Bell Hotel, which will see it cleared of asylum seekers Victory for the local council www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/eppi...

In-depth: The 'Jekyll and Hyde' celebrity osteopath jailed for spying on women in their own homes www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/t...

It's still happening A criminal conviction for a mentally ill man who didn't pay car insurance when hospitalised and in crisis #SingleJusticeProcedure www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/d...

Pensioner, 72, with dementia is convicted of not paying her TV Licence when she was recovering from a stroke www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/b...

Inside London's youth courts, and the battle to turn teenage boys away from knife crime www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/l...