Crown Court Bulletin

October – December 2008 (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 October to December 2008. 
• 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 298 Crown cases received during October to December 2008.  This is an 11% decrease on the 336 received during October to December 2007. The cases dealt with have decreased by 15% from 466 in October to December 2007, to 398 in 2008.
• Defendants received and dealt with:
  361 defendants were received in Crown Court during October to December 2008 (a 12% decrease since the same period last year). 520 defendants were dealt with during October to December 2008 (a decrease of 11% against the same period last year)
• Waiting times:
  The average time from committal to hearing for October to December 2008 was 142 days, an increase of 27% against the same period in 2007. The average time from conviction to disposal was 46 days, a decrease of 10% on the same period in 2007.
• Disposals:
  County Court Judges disposed of 93% of defendants (483), and 15% of defendants were charged solely with offences against the person. 44% of defendants had a combination of charges.
• Pleas and findings:
  Of the 520 defendants disposed, 40% pleaded guilty to all charges and were therefore found guilty on all charges.
• Crown Court sittings:
  In total there were 753 Crown court sittings for October to December 2008 in comparison to 720 for October to December 2007 (an increase of 5%), with a total time of 1946 hours sat compared to 1822 hours sat during the same period last year.

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