Court chaos: Shrewsbury man's 24 hours in cell for case dealt with FOUR YEARS ago

The 28-year-old said the situation left him confused and feeling like cannon fodder.

He said that the changes to remand hearings, which now only take place in Kidderminster and not Telford as under the previous arrangement, have been allowed to happen because they affect people that “no one cares about”.

The man, who spoke on condition on anonymity said: “It is like you are cannon fodder and no one seems to be that bothered. It is like these are people that it does not matter if it happens to them.”

The man was picked up by an unmarked police car while walking in to Shrewsbury at 10am and was accused of the breach of a criminal anti-social behaviour order.

He was held until the next day when he was taken to Kidderminster Magistrates Court, where he was released when it was established that he had already been dealt with for the offence four years ago.

The man said: “Everything was good and I walked into town on this day from my uncle’s address, minding my own business and this unmarked police car pulled up beside me and two officers jumped out and said you are under arrest.

"I asked what for and they said breach of a crasbo which was the first I had heard of it.

“I wanted to co-operate because I though I would get out quicker. This was at 10am and I was told I would be produced at court the same day.”

'It is a complete farce'

The man was instead held overnight and then taken by bus to Kidderminster only to be released with a £16 travel warrant, paid for by the taxpayer, to make his way home.

He said: “When I got to Kidderminster I spoke to the solicitor from Lanyon Bowdler and they said you should not even be here. Then went and spoke to the magistrates and I was released straight away. It is a complete farce.

“In the past I have had a few misdemeanours, I messed up, but I have learned from that and I am trying to turn a new leaf, working with probation to be a productive member of society.

“It was 26 hours in custody whereas if it was in Telford it would have been straight away.”

Stephen Scully, a solicitor from Lanyon Bowder has been calling on the Ministry of Justice to reverse its decision to centralise remand hearings in Kidderminster.

He said: “He spent a long time in custody and he didn’t need to. He was picked up at 10am and not released until 12.15pm the next day. It was dealt with four years before and someone, somewhere had not updated the system.

“I think if he was from a different background it may have been dealt with differently. Certainly more expeditiously.

“One thing I can say is if Shrewsbury or Telford Magistrates were sitting it would have not been 26 hours in custody, it would have been 20 hours less than that.”

He added: “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable, I cannot take credit for that quote but it is quite apt given how people are being treated.”