Crown Court Bulletin

January - March 2009 (PROVISIONAL FIGURES)

• Table 1 Crown Court cases received
• Table 2 Crown Court cases disposed
• Table 3 Crown Court defendants received
• Table 4 Crown Court defendants disposed
• Table 5 Average waiting times in days
• Table 6 Crown Court defendants disposed by judge type
• Table 7 Crown Court defendants disposed by charge type
• Table 8 Outcome of Crown Court defendants
• Table 9 Crown Court sitting times

Important Notes:

• Figures are run from a live database and may change due to late returns and further validations.
• The number of defendants is based on the number of defendants disposed of from January to March 2009.
• Date of disposal is based on the date of sentencing, date of acquittal or date a bill of indictment is not proceeded with.
• Waiting times do not exclude recess.

Summary

• Cases received and dealt with:
  There were 306 Crown cases received during January to March 2009.  This is an 11% decrease on the 343 received during January to March 2008. The cases dealt with have increased by 2% from 365 in January to March 2008, to 372 in 2009.
• Defendants received and dealt with:
  377 defendants were received in Crown Court during January to March 2009 (a 12% decrease since the same period last year). 469 defendants were dealt with during January to March 2009 (a decrease of 1% against the same period last year)
• Waiting times:
  The average time from committal to hearing for January to March 2009 was 128 days, a decrease of 9% against the same period in 2008. The average time from conviction to disposal was 54 days, the same as for the equivalent period in 2008.
• Disposals:
  County Court Judges disposed of 93% of defendants (437), and 20% of defendants were charged solely with offences against the person. 37% of defendants had a combination of charges.
• Pleas and findings:
  Of the 469 defendants disposed, 36% pleaded guilty to all charges and were therefore found guilty on all charges.
• Crown Court sittings:
  In total there were 762 Crown court sittings for January to March 2009 in comparison to 676 for January to March 2008 (an increase of 13%), with a total time of 2111 hours sat compared to 1826 hours sat during the same period last year.
  (Please note that Easter recess took place in March 2008, as opposed to April in 2009).

Table 1 - Crown Court cases received

Table 2 - Crown Court cases disposed

Table 3 - Crown Court defendants received

Table 4 - Crown Court defendants disposed

Table 5 - Waiting times in days

[1] Excludes defendants who had a bench warrant or deferred sentence

Table 6 - Crown Court defendants disposed by judge type

Table 7 - Crown Court defendants disposed by charge type

Table 8 - Outcome of Crown Court Defendants

Table 9 - Crown Court sitting times