A staggering 207 trials were postponed this year as prison transport failures wreak havoc on the justice system, raising concerns over efficiency and costs.
London: It’s been a rough year for the justice system in England and Wales. Can you believe that 207 trials were postponed just because prison vans couldn’t get defendants to court on time? That’s a huge jump from last year, up 44%, and nearly three times the number from five years ago!
People are really worried about the growing backlog in courts and the wasted money. Victims and defendants are caught in a frustrating mess. Lawyers are saying these delays are a sign of a system that’s just not working right. The two main companies handling prisoner transport, GeoAmey and Serco, admit they’re facing challenges, many of which they can’t control.
Take the Old Bailey murder trial for example. The judge was clearly fed up with the delays. After a two-hour late start, he told the jury they had broken the record for delays. It’s just not fair to anyone involved.
One big issue is the rising number of prisoners waiting for trial, often stuck in jails far from the courts. As of June, over 17,000 people were in this situation, which is an 86% increase since 2019. But the number of trials postponed due to transport issues is growing even faster.
Back in 2013, Serco was even reported for potential fraud after an audit found they were falsely claiming prisoners were delivered to court. That investigation didn’t go anywhere, but it raised eyebrows.
Fast forward to 2019, and the government gave Serco an £800 million contract to handle prisoner transport in southern England. They promised that new vehicles would help reduce delays, but it seems like things have only gotten worse.
Most of the delays are happening in London and the south, where Serco operates. They say the challenges of working in such a busy area, along with a shortage of drivers, are making things tough. They’re trying to hire and train more staff, but it’s a struggle.
GeoAmey claims they have a 99.9% success rate in getting people to court, but they also acknowledge that the process is complicated and often out of their hands.
James Oliveira-Agnew from the Criminal Bar Association pointed out that the whole system is dysfunctional. With so many people waiting for trials, the current setup just can’t keep up. Trials that should last five days are stretching to six or seven, costing a fortune.
And the numbers might not even tell the whole story. The figures only show trials that were completely canceled, not those delayed by just a few hours. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said that less than 0.2% of hearings are delayed due to transport issues, but they also admitted that the prison capacity crisis is putting a lot of pressure on the system.