Crown Court Bulletin for October - December 2010 (Provisional Figures)

Contents

• Summary
• Figure 1 - Crown Court cases dealt with
• 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 420 Crown cases received during October to December 2010. This was a 22% increase on the 344 received during October to December 2009. The cases dealt with have decreased by 5% from 384 in October to December 2009, to 365 for the same period in 2010 (Figure 1).

Defendants received and dealt with:

534 defendants were received in Crown Court during October to December 2010 (a 22% increase since the same period last year, when 436 defendants were received). 439 defendants were dealt with during October to December 2010 (a 7% decrease when compared with 473 defendants dealt with in the same period last year).

Waiting times:

The average time from committal to hearing for October to December 2010 was 118 days, compared with 111 days for the same period in 2009. The average time from conviction to disposal was 50 days, compared with 38 days for the equivalent period in 2009.

Disposals:

County Court Judges disposed of 97% of defendants (424). 16% of defendants were charged solely with offences against the person while 35% of defendants had a combination of charges.

Pleas and findings:

Of the 439 defendants disposed, 198 (45%) pleaded guilty to all charges. Crown Court sittings: In total there were 802 Crown court sittings for October to December 2010 compared with 687 for October to December 2009 (an increase of 17%), with a total time of 2370 hours sat compared with 2074 hours sat during the same period last year.
(Please note that Christmas recess took place during December 2010)

Figure 1: Crown Court Cases Dealt With (July to September)

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