Court Computer Lets Crooks Go Free!!

COURTS AND COMPUTERS ~

If it can happen, it will happen!

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March 14, 2008
Court blunders let over 500 off hook
Leeds Magistrates' Court

By Jonathan Reed Political Editor

A QUARTER of a century of failings at Yorkshire's biggest criminal court allowed hundreds of defendants to evade justice while details of up to 1,200 more have not been put on the police national computer amid a "systematic covering up of errors."

Justice Secretary Jack Straw condemned the "lamentable" failings after an inquiry revealed up to 555 defendants were either never tried or never served their sentence for offences including indecent assault, wounding and burglary.Warrants in their cases were simply withdrawn by legal advisers – or clerks – at Leeds Magistrates Court in an administrative swoop to clear backlogs.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Court Administration also said it was "unacceptable" that failures to log court results in hundreds of cases between 1980 and 2004 – the vast majority of which were between 2001 and 2004 – mean there are no accurate results of what happened to 2,206 defendants.

As a result, up to 1,200 convicted criminals have avoided being put on the national police database, leaving their crimes to go unnoticed when background checks are carried out or other police forces are making inquiries.

The report also reveals court legal advisers made up records for 12 defendants by guessing the outcome of their case – because the true judgment was missing – and one offender may have been sentenced twice for the same offence.Last night there was fury from MPs as Mr Straw, who ordered the inquiry in November, revealed disciplinary action is under way.

Two people have already been disciplined for gross misconduct.Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, said: "This statement is an extraordinary description of institutional chaos and systematic abuse at Leeds Magistrates Court."The fact that we are also talking about legal advisers actually making up results by guesswork must surely mean that we are talking about a criminal offence."There are still a number of unanswered questions that must be clarified."

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said: "There was a catalogue of negligence and poor record keeping among court staff that has undermined the criminal justice system in West Yorkshire and let down victims of crime."The nature of the failings did raise the question of whether they might be occurring in other courts, he said.

The report is one of two inquiries ordered by Mr Straw after concerns were raised about the recording of cases by the court and the withdrawal of warrants.

Hundreds of rulings were either not recorded or put down wrongly, four artificial registers were created in 2002 to cover up the failures and in 2004 legal advisers made up the results of 27 cases involving 12 defendants.

The chaos means details of up to 1,200 offenders were not logged on the police national computer.A protocol used between 1999 and 2004 meant batches of warrants were withdrawn in bulk to tackle backlogs, meaning 555 defendants could have evaded justice.

Last night the Ministry of Justice said procedures were in place to trace offenders.Leeds solicitor Grahame Stowe said a "national obsession" with statistics led to the problems and called on the Government to stop interfering with the justice system.