The number of suspects being referred and charged remained broadly stable over this time.
The number of cases being finalised (convicted and sentenced) fell from 107,497 in the previous quarter to 41,508 between April and June.
Criminal Bar Association chair James Mulholland QC said: ‘There can be no doubt that a much larger increase will be reflected in the next set of quarterly figures as very few cases had progressed through the magistrates’ court to the Crown court by this stage because of limited capacity.’
He highlighted that one in seven of the prison population (11,388 trial detainees) at the end of June were awaiting trial. Some 1,337 were charged with theft, which meant ‘a significant proportion of those individuals may serve a longer sentence than they would receive if convicted after a trial’.
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