Fears as court runs out of time
The region's police and crime commissioner has said a case where a court ran out of time to deal with a man who breached his bail highlights "serious concerns".
John Campion, police and crime commissioner for West Mercia, was speaking after it emerged that a man on bail for a domestic violence assault, faced no penalty for breaching the terms of his bail by contacting a witness in the case.
People who breach the terms of their bail must be put in front of a court within 24 hours, or the court is no longer able to deal with them for the breach.
The man, who is yet to go on trial for a domestic violence assault, was arrested at 9.40am on January 31. He was taken to Kidderminster the next morning by bus for a bail hearing, but the court was not able to deal with the breach because the 24 hour time period had elapsed by the time he was brought before magistrates.
The Ministry of Justice said it was carrying out an urgent investigation into why it had happened.
Local solicitors have argued that changes to the county's remand hearings, which no longer take place in Telford and were instead switched to Kidderminster, could have played a part.
Under the current arrangements Shropshire people awaiting bail or remand hearings who are arrested after 9am are held overnight at Telford Police Station before being taken to Kidderminster on a bus the next day.
Previously they would have walked through a tunnel from the police station to Telford magistrates Court, a few hundred metres away.
Mr Campion said the latest issue highlighted his concerns and said he would continue to campaign for changes to the system, such as the introduction of video remand hearings, which would prevent the need to transport prisoners.
He said “Local access to justice is important for victims and communities. I have consistently said that that remand hearings should not have been centralised, and this is proven as these changes continue to affect the justice process, and drain police time and resources. The recent case highlights some of these significant concerns and I will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice and other partners to explore options such as video remand hearings which would improve the current approach."
