Court delays leave those on remand in jail for years

Courtesy of existing backlogs within the court system the number of individuals remanded in jail for a year rose to a 14 year high of 1,777. The number of those held longer than two years equated to 533.

One individual who was charged with both supplying drugs and a firearms offence, has been awaiting trial for four years and three months.

The chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said there is a risk that many could be released from jail as soon as they are sentenced because they have already spent so long behind bars.

Consequently, this means they could walk free without having had any rehabilitation or education as remand prisoners do not generally get the same access to such facilities as convicted inmates.

He said, "They will have, in effect, served their sentence before they even come to court, and will certainly walk free having spent two years without getting any education, without getting any support."

In a further comment he said, "People who are either unconvicted or who are released on time served, of which a fair proportion are, they have no support and the danger is that they'll just get swept back into crime again. There are also things like losing contact with family that help to stop people from reoffending, like having children, having a partner. If relationships break down as a result of that, then that becomes concerning. And for the process of justice, victims of crime don't get any sense that their case has really been dealt with and witnesses may just fade away and they're not available." 

Additionally, there are growing concerns that the backlog of court cases and delays could get worse if talks between the Government and Criminal Bar Association fail to resolve a pay dispute.

The number of remand prisoners increased sharply during the pandemic as trials were brought to a halt to prevent the spread of Covid.

The latest official figures show there are 13,409 unconvicted and unsentenced people in jail.This figure is up nearly six per cent in a year and the highest number since 2008. In 2021 ten percent of those held on remand were subsequently acquitted at trial.

The Johnson Partnership

Derby Crime Solicitors 

01332 370 473