Disruption at court caused by fire coming to an end

The disruption caused to Swindon court cases by the closure of a courtroom is set to come to an end.

A fire at Swindon Crown Court caused some of the roof to collapse into one of the two in-use courtrooms, which left cases having to be seen at courts elsewhere, like Bristol and Gloucestershire.

But a His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service spokesperson has confirmed that the court will soon be back to full strength.

"Swindon Crown Court is due to reopen in full next week as planned, following final checks in the coming days," they said.

The hearing of Swindon cases at different courts has had an impact on the course of criminal justice, with some cases being adjourned because a prosecutor was not able to attend.

The trial of accused domestic abuser Claudio Stroud was also delayed because of a smell in the remaining in-use courtroom that was deemed 'too unpleasant' for proceedings to continue.

This meant that Stroud exceeded his legal time limit in custody, with a judge needing to issue an order to extend the time he is allowed to be held behind bars until his trial can take place, months after it was initially scheduled.

The blaze at the Swindon Crown and County Court broke out in a second-floor plant room on April 10.

An aerial platform was used by the six crews who attended the fire at 12.53am, leaving at 6.51am.

In total, 14 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus took on the blaze with water jets.

A Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 12.53am this morning about a non-residential property fire on Islington Street, Swindon.

“Crews from Swindon (x2), Stratton (x2), Westlea and Royal Wootton Bassett attended along with the aerial ladder platform from Swindon and support unit from Devizes.

“The fire, located in a second-floor plant room, was extinguished by 14 breathing apparatus wearers using hose reel jets, main jets and the aerial ladder platform.

“Our stop was in at 6.51am.”

Following the blaze, the whole courthouse was closed for roughly a week.

After this, it reopened with one of its courts out of action, which would remain the case for two months, until news of the courtroom's reopening was confirmed.