Ten cases a day – how ‘blitz courts’ could tackle the Crown Court backlog
Ten cases a day – how ‘blitz courts’ could tackle the Crown Court backlog
In a Crown Court in Nottingham, a man with a blank expression stood in the dock, accused of sending explicit images of his genitals to a 13-year-old girl. He was also found in possession of nearly 200 indecent child images. The judge labeled him a “depraved individual” and imposed a two-year suspended prison sentence. Additionally, he was required to complete 118 hours of unpaid community service and remain on the sex offenders’ register for a decade. A woman in the courtroom tried to hide her tears as the verdict was delivered. The entire proceeding lasted 45 minutes.
Following this, the judge addressed a case involving a man who had sent intimate photos to a 14-year-old girl and requested sexual favor. The defendant, then 27 years old, was apprehended by a paedophile-hunting group after planning to meet the girl outside an Asda supermarket. His sentence mirrored the previous case. Typically, I attend court for a single case, but this day was exceptional. Judge Michael Auty KC presided over ten cases in five hours, marking the beginning of a series of such sessions.
Nottingham is among a few Crown Courts implementing “blitz” hearings, designed to process dozens of cases in a single day. Similar initiatives are active in London, the North East, and the North West of England. The program will soon expand to more courts in England and Wales, including the Central Criminal Court, also called the Old Bailey. These courts aim to expedite cases through a “fast track” system, handling trials, sentencing, and appeals.
It is rare for a judge to handle such a high volume of cases in one day, yet the government is pushing for increased use of this method to ease the growing pile of unresolved criminal cases. Nottingham’s blitz sessions occur twice monthly, grouping similar cases to streamline decisions. On the day of my visit, the judge delivered ten sentences, four related to sexual offenses. The concept isn’t entirely new—blitz hearings have been used in emergencies, like the 2011 summer riots, which led to a surge in public disorder trials.
From this month, the government is scaling up blitz courts as part of broader efforts to reduce delays. Funding for this initiative comes from a £2.7bn allocation for courts and tribunals this financial year, up from £2.5bn the prior year. Currently, there are approximately 80,000 cases pending in Crown Courts across England and Wales, with numbers doubling since the pandemic. By the end of this year, the backlog is projected to exceed 100,000, and could reach 200,000 by 2035 without intervention.
“The long waits are unacceptable,” said a victim, noting that some cases may not be resolved until 2030.
Later in the session, a married father-of-five was sentenced for sharing explicit images of a Muslim woman he had sex with and attempting blackmail. The court learned he threatened to expose her naked photos in a hotel room to her family unless she continued sleeping with him. The judge remarked, “You are 44 years old. These offences are mean, manipulative,” before giving him a two-year suspended jail term. He added, “You’ve escaped jail by the skin of your teeth.”
On the same day, the judge also dealt with drug-related charges, public disorder incidents, and theft cases. Addressing prosecutors and defense lawyers, Judge Auty KC noted that some cases could have been resolved at the magistrates’ level, allowing for quicker resolutions and less strain on the system. Advocates of blitz courts argue that the approach accelerates proceedings, promotes community rehabilitation, and frees up prison space—benefits they believe outweigh the challenges.