Crown Prosecution inspectorate warns that Westminster failing victims - borough not meeting crime targets

Published: 19 March 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

VICTIMS and witnesses of crime in Westminster are not receiving adequate support from the Crown Prosecution Service, a recent report warns.

The borough did not meet its target for the number of letters sent to victims to explain why a charge had been dropped or altered, according to a performance assessment report by the CPS Inspectorate, which ranked the overall service as “poor”.

Other criticisms included a lack of planning by prosecutors to allow witnesses to give effective evidence  and delays caused by incomplete case files in both magistrates’ and crown courts.

The proportion of magistrates’ court cases that result in convictions is 84 per cent, lower than the national average of 87 per cent.

The report said Westminster faced specific difficulties because of its location, citing the number of tourists who become victims of crime, a backlog of contested cases because of the concentration of courts, and a diminishing number of experienced lawyers.

It also noted that in some areas, such as sexual offences, serious violence and domestic violence, Westminster made an effort to to ensure specialist prosecutors were on hand.

Chief inspector Stephen Wooler said: “The City of Westminster Unit is the largest in London and operates in a challenging environment. 

“It is a credit to the commitment and effort of the borough’s staff and managers that the change in performance is not as marked as it could have been. Nonetheless, Westminster must raise its game and improve the quality of case preparation and the handling of cases at court.

“I hope that the new approach being adopted by the senior management team for London will, in due course, enable the unit to achieve a consistently good standard of casework delivery that criminal justice partners and the public have the right to expect.” 

Westminster Crown Prosecutors Dolores Barrett and Sarah Boland said: “Case preparation and progression is an important aspect that we’re urgently working to improve. We now have two borough Crown Prosecutors to oversee the work of the unit, one to deal with magistrates’ court work and one to deal with crown court work.

“Ensuring those who are a victim of crime or who witness crime are kept informed about the progress of a case is of vital importance to the CPS.

“We will prioritise the need to ensure that applications for special measures are submitted in time, so that people giving evidence are given every help they need in court.”