This is good thread. But bear with me as we stop at point 1. Have tweeted about ‘DRAC’ hours before. These are the contractual hours that HMCTS agreed with the paid private companies who do prison transport as to what time those in custody should be brought to court by.
1/? https://twitter.com/claireeshowell/status/1286005338844602373
Courts start hearing cases at 1000 & expect you to be ready to start.
And as you might expect those in custody normally have serious cases which require extra care and consideration which means more time. Consulations therefore are slower. All fine?
Except on a good day, clients are not ‘produced’ to court as it’s called until 0900. They then quite properly have to be checked in by Court gaolers. This takes time. So by the time clients are ready to be seen, the earliest is 0915 but usually near 0930. Can you see the problem?
Prisons are highly regimented institutions with times for everything. So when someone has to be brought to court, they are taken out of the regime. Often clients are woken up at 0500 to get on ‘the bus’ to court. Breakfast I am told is sometimes a packet of crisps.
Why so early you think? Because the same government that trumpets new super prisons, are also the same ones that shut down local ones.HMP Dorchester has stood empty for years, sold to a property developer. Just like courts, they sold them off so you can stay in a quirky hotel...
So clients are further and further away from courts. What about tech I hear you cry? Prison Video Links are great WHEN & IF you can get them. Understandably security is a key issue but the system that links into a prison is archaic. You have to book slots. You cannot multi link.
What does that mean? E.g. If Southend Mags court needs the link for a D to use in court, then they get priority and your con at court must finish to free up the link.
CVP - bully for you if you have it locally to prisons but it should have been rolled YEARS AGO nationally.
These tech solutions should have been thought of our prison population grew and grew like Topsy....

Nicer though and here’s the kicker,MORE effective to see your client in person though.
Which brings me back to DRAC ( I forget now what it exactly stands for - some soul will kindly help an old dear out & say please) hours.
There is little judicial control or sanction if a prisoner is produced ‘late’ to court because the contract is between HMCTS & the transport.
And depends who has defined ‘late’. A crown court judge might think that with a trial starting at 1000, any D brought after then is, well, ‘late’. Counsel certainly would be as would most other participants. But not necessarily so.
The agreed latest DRAC drop off time for some prisons can be as late as noon e.g. HMP Bronzefield because it is one of the very few women only prisons. So they aren’t contractually late but may be for an effective hearing. In fairness normally they do try their best.
The point is how is this all going to fit with extended hours? It won’t.
The private transport companies are private for profit businesses so will need to charge appropriately to take prisoners to court outside usual arrangements. Bet they will not flinch in asking.
Has anyone bothered to ask Prison Governors & Officers, how this might all work? Haven’t seen much mention.These are staff that have also suffered cuts & suffer from poor morale. You’d think recent unrest might remind some of the risks they face & the conditions for all. But no.
Can anyone see a prison accepting return residents at gone midnight after a late sitting? Most prisons ‘lock down’ at latest 8ish.
Or getting up at 3 to get clients to court for the earlies?
No? It’s nonsense isn’t it.
What about good old Probation? Anyone ask them what they think? Probation officers you see at court are only the tip of the iceberg- they are also Offender Managers ( or whatever today’s name for it is) supervising, interviewing for PSRs, going on visits. All with less staff.
So DRAC hours are indicative of a system that didn’t think how the day to day business of courts are conducted. It’s an idea created in a vacuum. So too, are extended hours.
It’s a nice sound bite so that it can be seen that ‘Something Is Being Done’ but that’s all it is. Puff.
Fin
And if by magic or because it’s a DAILY occurrence, please see this by @Joanna__Hardy - *BOOM* on point and on cue:

https://twitter.com/joanna__hardy/status/1286274539660468232?s=21 https://twitter.com/joanna__hardy/status/1286274539660468232
Or this:
https://twitter.com/nmbarraclough/status/1286284247582625793?s=21 https://twitter.com/nmbarraclough/status/1286284247582625793
Well hello lack of tech training
https://twitter.com/benmrowe/status/1286276448832102400?s=21 https://twitter.com/benmrowe/status/1286276448832102400
You can follow @MAM12CP.
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