Fighting harder for justice (From Warrington Guardian)

Fighting harder for justice

WARRINGTON Magistrates' Court is bringing more offences to justice and reducing ineffective trials.

Peter Jones, the legal manager at the court, says they have been working hard to reduce ineffective trials by meeting with police and other agencies on a monthly basis to seek solutions.

Mr Jones said: "Facing the ordeal of coming to court and then to be told that you have to come back another day must be a nightmare."

He added: "We are constantly working to try to make sure that victims, witnesses and defendants get justice. The only way to do that is to make sure that the case is heard and is not adjourned to another day."

At Warrington Magistrates' Court, in 2004, just more than 40 per cent of the cases that came to court were cracked, 18 per cent were ineffective and 41 per cent were effective.

Statistics released by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that Cheshire has brought 11 per cent more offenders to justice since March 2002.

Throughout Cheshire, ineffective trials have been cut by nearly 10 per cent, with an 81 per cent increase in fine enforcements between April and September 2004.