Lowry Theatre to reopen as a 'socially-distanced' court in bid to reduce trial backlog

The Lowry Theatre in Manchester is to be turned into a Nightingale court as part of the Government's bid to clear the backlog of more than 500,000 cases.

The theatre, named after artist LS Lowry which has played host to the royal variety performance and Mastermind, is one of 17 venues converted into 32 socially-distanced courtrooms with perspex screens.

Others announced yesterday include the Hilton Hotel in York, and Jury’s Inn in Middlesborough.

They follow the knights' chamber in the grounds of Peterborough cathedral, the Ministry of Justice’s headquarters in London, Middlesbrough town hall and some reopened  courts, which were set up last month and are now operating at 80 per cent capacity.

Magistrates’ courts are currently dealing with more than 21,000 cases a week, which is reducing the backlog. Since 1 August 2020, magistrates’ courts have heard 1,000 extra cases through additional Saturday sittings.

Crown courts are currently holding more than100 jury trials, and clearing more than 1,700 cases a week

Plexiglass screens are being rolled out to 300 courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms with the aim to reopen 250 Crown Court rooms for jury trials.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, said: “We must keep going if we are to get our courts back up to speed. These additional sixteen court rooms will further boost our efforts to increase capacity - reducing delays and delivering speedier justice for all.”

The suspension of trials during lockdown led to a 100,000 increase in the backlog of magistrates cases to nearly 500,000 and a surge in the number of outstanding crown court cases from 37,000 to 43,000.