More than 1,500 outstanding cases at Newcastle Crown Court

Newcastle Crown Court faced a backlog of more than 1,500 cases at the end of summer, figures show.

Magistrates are set to be given more sentencing powers in an effort to tackle the pile-up of cases waiting to be dealt with by criminal courts across England and Wales.

But critics warned the plan could have the opposite effect and add to the backlog, while branding it a “sticking plaster” solution.

Ministry of Justice data shows there were 1,711 outstanding cases at Newcastle Crown Court at the end of September last year.

That was a decrease from 1,758 at the end of June, but up from 1,642 at the same point in 2020.

Uncompleted case numbers are 34% higher than they were prior to the coronavirus pandemic – in September 2019, there were 1,281 cases outstanding at Newcastle Crown Court.

Of the cases outstanding at the end of summer, 401 (23%) related to alleged violent attacks and 265 (15%) were for sex offences.

Across England and Wales, 59,900 cases were waiting to be dealt with by crown courts at the end of September – a slight dip of 1% compared to June, but a 17% increase from 51,280 in September 2020.

Nearly a quarter of cases have been outstanding for a year or more.

Under plans announced by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, the maximum sentence magistrates can hand out will be doubled to a year.

Currently, crimes warranting a jail term of more than six months are automatically sent to a crown court for sentencing.

Keeping more cases in magistrates’ courts, which havebeen “less severely affected” by Covid, means crown courts can better focustheir resources on tackling the backlog, according to the MoJ.

Mr Raab said: “This important measure will provide vitaladditional capacity to drive down the backlog of cases in the crown courts overthe coming years."

But Alex Cunningham, Labour’s shadow courts andsentencing minister, described the move as “another sticking plaster” solution,adding: “Ministers must give assurances that greater powers for magistrateswon’t inflict even more burden on crown courts – with increased numbers ofappeals overloading a diminishing number of criminal advocates left in the system.”

Mark Fenhalls QC, chairman of the Bar Council, warned thechanges could increase the prison population and put further pressure on theMoJ budget.

Expected to come into force in the coming months, thechanges will only apply to ‘either-way’ offences which can be dealt with bymagistrates or crown courts. It will mean defendants can still opt to havetheir case heard by a jury in a crown court.

Bev Higgs, national chairman of the Magistrates’Association which has campaigned for sentencing powers to be extended, said theorganisation was “delighted” with the announcement, adding: “It is absolutelythe right time to re-align where cases are heard to ensure a safe, effective,and efficient justice system."