Moving remand hearings out of Shropshire 'inhumane and degrading'
People are being subjected to "inhumane and degrading" conditions after remand hearings were moved out of Shropshire, according to a county solicitor.
Stephen Scully, a solicitor with Lanyon Bowdler and a member of Shropshire Advocates Group, has said that lawyers are concerned at the impact of stopping remand hearings in Shropshire, and moving them to Kidderminster.
He said that some people surrendering or arrested for a breach of bail, are now being held in police cells for 24-hours awaiting a hearing, due to there only being one bus a day taking defendants to Kidderminster Magistrates Court.
Under the previous system those surrendering or arrested for a breach of bail would have been taken to Telford Magistrates Court for a hearing the same day.
Mr Scully said the situation was tying up police resources.
He said it has also meant more people occupying the cells in Kidderminster, potentially creating a safety risk, and an increased cost for the tax payer for travel warrants, which defendants use to pay for their return from Kidderminster.
Mr Scully said the situation was putting people in "inhumane and degrading" conditions.
He said: "They are doubling up on people in cells trying to fit people in and we are very concerned something is going to happen, if people are cramped up there and locked up for 24 hours plus. It is a potential powder keg."
Breach
He added: "Most of the people who are sent to Kidderminster are then being released on bail and our understanding is the tax payer then has to pay for them to come back on a travel warrant. That is three to four times what it would cost in Shropshire.
Mr Scully said he had heard of an anecdotal report from a colleague about a woman arrested after the school run on a breach of bail conditions.
He said the woman was then held in a county police cell overnight until a hearing at Kidderminster the next day, leading to her spending a considerable amount of time trying to arrange childcare and the collection of her children.
He also said there had been reports of police officers having time taken up by having to drive documents to Kidderminster for cases.
He said: "We are also aware, although it might have been resolved, that police officers have had to drive down to Kidderminster to take papers down there.
"That is not an effective use of tax payers' money, acting as a courier service."
