Criminal reduction as fewer face court

Thousands fewer criminals are appearing at magistrates' courts in the West Midlands amid rising numbers of instant fines and a greater reluctance to bring to bring prosecutions in borderline cases, it was revealed today.

Figures obtained by the Express & Star show that 56,059 cases were prosecuted at magistrates' courts in the region in 2006/07. But that number fell to 53,230 last year, a drop of more than five per cent.

In the Black Country, the figure dropped from 20,346 to 19,924.

The news comes as it emerged that a senior member of staff at a Staffordshire court raised fears over the lack of work and court sessions were being cancelled.

One legal worker at Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court, who asked not to be named, said the North Street building was often like a "ghost town" on afternoons, after those held in custody by police overnight had been dealt with in the morning.

The source estimated there had been a reduction in workload a the courts of around a third in recent years – mainly because of pre-charge advice.

That was introduced in around 2005 and gave Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers the final say on who should be charged in most cases, with only those with a realistic prospect of conviction facing court. "Pre-charge advice made the biggest difference, but that was a good thing because it was getting rid of cases that were going to get dropped anyway," the source said.

Figures also reveal that the number of cases dropped has fallen from more than 12 per cent to just under 10 per cent.

Guilty pleas rose two per cent to almost 70 per cent, with the conviction rate seeing an even bigger increase – from just under 84 per cent to more than 87 per cent.

Colin Molloy, head of the CPS in the Black Country, told the Express & Star: "A certain part of the reduction is as a result of conditional cautions and fixed penalty notices."

Addressing the claim that magistrates were being left with no work in some areas, he said: "Substantial improvements in the criminal justice system have meant that offenders are being dealt with in the first or second hearing as opposed to a fifth or sixth."