Criminals are prolonging victims’ pain by refusing to plead guilty (Image: Getty)
Criminals are prolonging victims’ pain by refusing to plead guilty to their crimes – only to change their minds later, Britain’s top prosecutor has warned.
The new Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, said 70% of cases in Crown Courts – where the most serious cases are heard – end in a guilty plea.
But Mr Parkinson said “many” of these pleas are “at a very late stage”.
He added: “In fact, only 36% of cases end up as a guilty plea at the first substantive hearing.
“So the remaining 34% of cases are clogging up the Crown Court system, taking on average, five hearings for each case when they could actually have been dealt with at the first substantive hearing.
“If we can squeeze out those early guilty pleas, and I’ve got ideas around this, then that is going to reduce the pressure on the Crown Courts and it’s going to reduce delays because the courts will be concentrating on those cases which are heading for an actual trial.”
A record backlog of 71,000 cases is awaiting trial in the nation’s crown courts, up from 38,000 before the pandemic.
The CPS wants to hit defendants with the full evidence against them much earlier in proceedings, so that defendants realise they are more likely to lose if they take it to trial.
And justice chiefs want to expand the pool of prosecutors specialising in serious sex crimes.
Parkinson also favours more funding through legal aid for defence lawyers, so they are better able to brief clients about the strength of a case. He hopes the moves will encourage suspects to plead guilty at their first court hearing, making them eligible for a reduced sentence.
Mr Parkinson admitted court delays are undermining faith in the entire justice system.
He told Radio 4’s Today Programme: “Reducing delay in the Criminal Justice System is my absolute highest priority.
“When I’ve got any headspace, I’m just thinking about what more we can do about that and it’s closely followed by wanting to give better support to victims.
“It takes a lot of bravery and resilience to come forward and make a complaint of rape, and other offences as well, and then to stay with the system.
“I’ve got enormous sympathy for victims.”
Mr Parkinson, in an interview over the weekend, warned rapists were not pleading guilty in the hope that victims would drop out of proceedings.
He said defendants were “taking advantage” of delays in the criminal justice system and “hoping that something will come up” to cause a case to collapse.
He added: “Typically, it can take two years to investigate a rape case and another two years to bring it to trial.
“I think that’s outrageous. We see too many victims — usually women — withdrawing their co-operation because of the delay and also because they don’t feel sufficiently supported.”