§ 28. Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Attorney-General what proposals he has to reduce the time between individuals being arrested and their being prosecuted.
§ The Solicitor-General (Sir Nicholas Lyell)The detailed recommendations of the working group on pre-trial issues and the recently announced plan for their implementation incorporate proposals that are intended to reduce delays throughout the criminal justice system.
§ Mr. MarshallIs my right hon. and learned Friend aware that Mr. Leslie Huckfield was acquitted some three years after he was first charged? Is not that a case of justice delayed, justice denied? Will my right hon. and learned Friend assure us that relatively simple cases will be dealt with speedily?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI am glad to assure my hon. Friend that relatively simple cases will be speeded up, particularly when the costed action plan for the recommendations of the working group on pre-trial issues comes into effect. The case that he mentioned arose only after detailed investigations by the police on a much wider series of matters.
§ Mr. FlynnWill the Solicitor-General examine the delays in prosecutions, particularly the case of Mr. Don Stewart, who phoned me this morning and who is a frightened man? He was held hostage in a car for 24 hours and shot at the end of that period. He has discovered in the past few days that the man who committed the alleged offence is now on bail. Will the Solicitor-General look at that extraordinary series of events and ensure that we speed up the systems of prosecution and sentencing to prevent such incidents from occurring?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralProblems of offences being committed while people are on bail are very much in the forefront of the minds of all those involved with the criminal justice system.