A ‘broken lift’ reputedly delayed the trial of an alleged court order flouter by two months.
Alan Thompson, 56, is accused of breaching a sexual harm prevention order by having unsupervised contact with a girl in her mid-teens on November 25, 2020. The girl cannot be identified for legal reasons.
When the Long Wittenham man pleaded not guilty to the charge in June, the judge then dealing with the matter was told that the trial might have to take place at Reading Crown Court as the defendant was in an electric wheelchair and the Oxford court’s lift was out of action.
Judge Nigel Daly said in an aside that he hoped the problematic elevator might be fixed in the six months before the trial was due to be heard.
Half a year later, it appeared that the same problems continued to trouble the court building’s elevator.
The court list - published three days before the case was heard before Judge Michael Gledhill KC on Monday - stated that a short mention hearing would replace the trial as the ‘lift is not working’.
Judge Gledhill refixed the trial to take start on February 6.
It came as, across the south east, a Law Society survey of solicitors found that a fifth believed that court buildings were ‘not at all fit for purpose’. Further, 14 per cent said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement ‘I felt physically safe from harm whilst attending court’.
Last November, the most senior judge in England and Wales, the Lord Chief Justice, told MPs that the country’s courts were losing time that could be spent hearing cases as a result of the poor state of buildings.
A year on, quizzed by the same House of Commons Select Committee last month, he said at least £70m had been found for ‘capital spending’ on court maintenance.
But he added: “I am nervous about the settlement next year because the reality is that even the money we have had this year, leaving aside inflation, is not enough to keep up with the fundamental problems that we have.
“The consequence is that we are losing more and more sitting days in all jurisdictions through maintenance failure.”
Oxford Combined Court, housed in a 1930s building converted from the Morris Garages showroom, has not been immune from maintenance ‘failures’.
In October, a judge briefly interrupted barristers during a hearing in courtroom two to apologise for the pitter-patter of rainfall emanating from the corner of the room. The water ingress was later fixed.
The building is undergoing significant renovations, with workmen currently engaged in construction work on the roof.
Last month, the trial of five people accused of murdering Keith Green in Banbury on February 13 was briefly interrupted by loud thumps coming from the ceiling of a crowded courtroom one.
Christopher Donnellan KC, barrister for one of the knifemen later convicted of murder, paused his closing address to the jury.
“It’s part of the building work,” Judge Ian Pringle KC assured him.
Mr Donnellan replied: “As long as the roof’s not coming in.”
“No, that’s to stop the roof coming in,” came the reassuring reply.
This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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