§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the(a) number and (b) cost of additional appeals to the Crown Court against the (i) verdicts and (ii) sentences of magistrates, under his proposals to restrict the right to trial by jury. [108099]
§ Mr. Straw[holding answer 2 February 2000]: Only 1 per cent. of defendants appeal against conviction and sentence following a trial in the magistrates courts and the model which has been used to estimate costs assumes that the effect will be de minimis. Even if as many as 10 per cent. of previously electing defendants chose to appeal following conviction after a contested trial, there would be fewer than 200 additional appeals, at a cost of less than £250,000.