A criminal barrister has been left baffled as a London court trial is postponed because of the courtroom being too cold.
Ben Rowe was in disbelief today when he inquired as to the reason for a counsel leaving the court early.
He took to Twitter to voice his shock at the response.
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Ben wrote: “Just walking past a courtroom at a large East London court centre.
“Counsel wanders out stating that the judge has suspended their trial as it is far too cold for the jury to concentrate. One for the @TheCriminalBar to add to the list.”
The undisclosed court was forced to shutdown after a heating problem saw temperatures plunge to dangerous levels.
Yesterday (November 23), jurors sitting on trials at Inner London crown court were also sent home early after temperatures dropped, reportedly to as low as 13 degrees.
Lawyers labelled the situation as “utterly disgraceful” on Twitter after barrister Mark Watson revealed a trial had to be stopped midway through defence speeches due to the chilly conditions.
Other hearings – including the sentencing of notorious paedophile Leslie Paul – were cancelled today, as HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) engineers work on a fix for the faulty heating system.
Only a few days ago, Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon criticised the state of the country’s crumbling courts.
He told MPs: “Every winter, we lose hearings because the heating is broken. There is a limit to how much you can expect people to sit in court in coats and bobble hats and gloves.
“People coming from the legal profession are used to working in an environment where the IT works and where there is appropriate staff support.”
In a post of Twitter last night, HMCTS confirmed: “Inner London crown court will be temporarily closed tomorrow whilst urgent work takes place to fix a fault with the heating system.
“Affected parties have been informed and we’ll provide further updates when available. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Meanwhile at Southwark crown court, one judge arrived at their trial with a fresh cold on Tuesday morning, blaming it on low temperatures on the judicial side of the courthouse.
The closure at Inner London is a setback in the attempt to tackle the 60,000-strong backlog of criminal cases caused by government funding cuts and the effects of the pandemic.
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