Crown Court Bulletin

July - September 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 computed from a live database and may change due to late returns and further validations.
• 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 328 Crown cases received during July to September 2009.  This is a 15% increase on the 286 received during July to September 2008. The number of cases dealt with has increased by 3% from 147 in July to September 2008, to 152 in 2009 (Figure 1).

• Defendants received and dealt with:
  428 defendants were received in the Crown Court during July to September 2009 (a 19% increase on the same period last year, when 359 were received). 183 defendants were dealt with during July to September 2009 (an increase of 2% compared with the same period last year, when 180 defendants were dealt with).

• Waiting times:
  The average time from committal to hearing for July to September 2009 was 112 days, a decrease of 3% compared with the same period in 2008 (116 days). The average time from conviction to disposal was 65 days, a decrease of 8% on the same period in 2008 (71 days).

• Disposals:
  County Court Judges disposed of 95% of defendants (173).  15% of defendants were charged solely with drug offences while 32% of defendants had a combination of charges.

• Pleas and findings:
  Of the 183 defendants disposed, 44% pleaded guilty to all charges.

• Crown Court sittings:
  In total there were 351 Crown Court sittings for July to September 2009 in comparison with 338 for July to September 2008 (an increase of 4%), with a total time of 1040 hours sat during July to September 2009, compared with 808 hours sat during the same period in 2008.

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