No place to hide for bail bandits obstructing justice
06 Oct 2005
The figures show that outstanding 'Fail To Appear' warrants have fallen by 26% across England and Wales since August 2004. This is due in part to the success of Operation Turn-up, a nationwide crackdown earlier this year on defendants who had failed to turn up at court.
The proportion of ineffective trials that fail to go ahead because of defendant non-attendance has also almost halved over the last three years.
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who led the Operation Turn-up blitz said:
"Operation Turn-up has been a tremendous start to our crackdown on bail bandits. This short, concerted effort by criminal justice authorities working in partnership has reduced 'Failure To Appear' warrants by 26% since August 2004. It sends a clear message to defendants who don't bother to turn up, that we will come looking for you.
"It's the first time that outstanding warrants have been targeted in this way and it sets a benchmark for continued improvement, a total reduction of 36% in 'Fail To Appear' warrants by March 2006.
"Local agencies have learned lessons how best to deal with bail absconders and we are building on those now."
Responding on behalf of the National Criminal Justice Board to the report's nine recommendations, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said:
"This is an important report and builds on an increasingly successful government strategy to tackle all those who disregard court orders.
"The report however describes the position in 2002 and I am therefore delighted to say that the reality now is quite different and the non-attendance rate has almost halved.
"We will continue to make substantial inroads into ensuring that orders of courts are respected. That is why, for example, we will be taking forward our commitment to ensure that courts try cases even where the defendant is absent."
Fiona Mactaggart, Home Office minister, said:
"When defendants don't turn up at court, the greatest impact is often on innocent victims and witnesses. They have themselves made the effort to be at court and nothing is more frustrating than to see that the defendant hasn't bothered.
"Skipping bail is a serious offence. Local Criminal Justice Boards will continue their work to ensure that defendants turn-up in the first place and track them down quickly if they don't."
To download the full press notice, including a table of outstanding 'Fail to Appear' warrants, click on the link on the right.