Courts service apologises over incorrect remand figures
The Ministry of Justice has apologised after providing inaccurate figures for how many prisoners were being transported out of Shropshire for remand hearings.
In a response to South Shropshire MP Philip Dunne last July, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) said that only 20 prisoners were held overnight for transport to Kidderminster from April to June.
However, a Freedom of information request from a group of Shropshire solicitors revealed that the actual number was 84.
The issue has arisen following a decision to switch hearings for all Shropshire remand cases from Telford, to Kidderminster Magistrates Court.
Local solicitors have been heavily critical of the move, along with the West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion.
In response to a query about the accuracy of the original figures, HMCTS said the statistics had been the result of "human error" and were an "honest mistake".
The organisation said it had also met with police to make sure any statistics provided in future are correct.
A HMCTS spokesperson said: “We apologise for initially providing the wrong data in this case – it was an honest mistake and the result of human error when the data was collated.
"We have since met with the police to ensure we provide the correct statistics as a matter of urgency.”
Complaining
The original reply from HMCTS to Mr Dunne had said: "It was unfortunate that it had not been possible to obtain police figures for June on the numbers of defendants held within the court day for the next available court before the meeting.
"However, we do know that contractors produce an average of 260 defendants to court monthly and despite the venue change, timeliness this quarter is better than the last quarter. In comparison, the number held for court the next day from Shropshire spiked to 12 in April but more than halved to 5 in May, and we have found out today that they have reduced to 3 during June 2018."
Responding to the apology, John McMillan of the Shropshire Defence Advocates Group, questioned why it had taken so long to accept there was an issue with the numbers.
He said: "I welcome the fact that after seven months they have finally accepted their figures are wrong.
"None of this should have come as a surprise to anyone with half a brain because we have been complaining ever since July last year that the figures were wrong.
"Our anecdotal experience was that there were far more prisoners being detained for far longer but they were not willing to inquire. They wanted to sit on their hands and do nothing. They have just ignored what we said and were happy for an MP to have the wrong information.
"And even when we did point out the figures were wrong the response was not to conduct an inquiry to provide the correct figures to the MP, they just said 'sorry, these are the figures we rely on, they have come fro a reputable source'. If you are told you have done something wrong you should take steps to rectify it."
