Magistrates' courts juvenile case success

8:36am Thursday 27th September 2001

ESSEX Magistrates' Courts Committee, whose court shake-up plans could see the closure of the Epping court maintains its justice system is the best in the UK for cutting the time taken to deal with cases involving persistent young offenders (PYOs).

According to figures from the Lord Chancellor's Department, Essex takes an average of 48 days, compared with the national average of 73 days, between the arrest and sentence of a PYO.

Magistrates' Courts Committee chairman Celia Edey said: "This demonstrates the hard work everyone has put in to ensure that there is no delay in dealing with these young people. In Essex, we have cut the amount of days taken by two thirds, from 144 to 48, which is way ahead of the government's target.

"The clear message we are sending to young people who persistently commit crime is that they will be brought to justice swiftly."

But even with these figures the closure of Epping court is still possible as the court does not have the facilities to deal with youth cases.

Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing has spoken of her concerns of the countywide proposals for the future of magistrates' courts, saying she would fight to keep the town court.

The court committee director of administration, Richard Hawkes, said Epping Magistrates' Court was 70 years old while Harlow is 35 years old.

He said: "We are trying to do a 21st century job in unsatisfactory conditions."

Mrs Edey said the committee needed to provide a court house that could take all the work created by Harlow and Epping and that court house would be a very complex building.

She added: "Our proposal is to provide the area with a state-of-the art court house that can serve swift justice, and can make the people who use it feel safe in an appropriate environment."