To suffer the wrath of a crown court judge just once might be considered bad enough.

But recently three judges have expressed concern in cases where they felt defendants had not been, or were not originally due to be, prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The judges appeared to blame the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – and they are not the only ones pointing the finger.

Police have also approached the Courier anonymously with their concerns.
They have criticised the CPS, saying it tried to drop a case that resulted in three armed robbers being jailed.

The CPS allegedly did not want to proceed against the men. When they did, the outcome was lengthy prison sentences.

A police source said: "The Crown Prosecution Service attempted to drop this case despite there being overwhelming evidence against the men, including security camera footage of the robbery.

"Serious concerns have to be raised when the CPS is calling for cases like this, where the evidence is there and the offenders plead guilty, to be dropped.

"It is not surprising that officers throughout West Yorkshire feel let down by the justice system."

But Neil Franklin, chief Crown prosecutor for CPS West Yorkshire, was swift to dismiss the comments, claiming the case was handled correctly and any notice to discontinue was because police had failed to gather sufficient evidence.

Alleged CPS failings have included charging a man with violent disorder and having an offensive weapon instead of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm – an offence that can carry a life sentence.

And more recently, prosecuting a drug baron with producing a class C drug instead of possession with intent to supply.

Both cases have prompted internal investigations by the CPS and one has resulted in new guidance for prosecutors.

Referring to the drugs case of Keith Simmons, Supt Alan Ford, of Calderdale Police, said: "It is for the police to investigate and gather the evidence.

"The final decision as to whether to charge and what that charge should be is for the CPS.

"It is pleasing to note that in terms of the investigation, the judge's comments clearly reflected the quality of evidence gathered and presented to the court."

Tom McGhee, chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, suggested the CPS had been blinded by a target culture and went so far as to call for the removal of its lawyers from police stations with charging duties returned to custody sergeants.

But Michael Quinn, area Crown prosecutor, said: "In view of the large number of cases that we prosecute and the difficult decisions we take on a daily basis, there is always a risk of occasional criticism.

"Where that criticism is justified we always ensure that lessons are learned so that the communities we serve can have confidence in the high quality of our work.

"The small number of cases attracting judicial criticism concerns us greatly and we do respond constructively, positively and energetically to this criticism.

"However, it needs to be remembered that we handle over 4,000
cases a year at our crown courts and the fact there has
been criticism in relation to five or six cases needs to be seen in this context."

The police and CPS claim to be part of a multi-agency partnership. But each has differing targets. This has been demonstrated by contradictory figures provided by the courts and CPS, one showing a decline in workload, the other an increase in workload.

Mr Quinn said: "Crown prosecutors have to make difficult casework decisions on files and we always seek to ensure that those decisions reflect the seriousness of the offending and level of criminality.

"These decisions are subject to continuous review as further evidence and information often comes to light after the original charging decision."

Judges' concerns
January 30, 2008: Judge Jonathan Durham Hall expresses concern that the CPS twice tried to drop the case of Royal axeman Daniel Bleazard.
February 22: Judge Robert Bartfield is critical of the level of charge brought against knuckleduster thug Wayne Anthony Kinder.
February 29: Judge Bartfield makes a similar criticism after Daniel Hodgeman is given a community order for assaulting a police officer in Queensbury.
March 5: Recorder Mark Cran reproaches the CPS for dropping an allegation of being drunk in charge of a vehicle against Richard Andrew.
March 21: Judge Durham Hall describes the CPS's reasons for not pursuing charges of common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Lee Muir as lame.
March 21: The Courier is told the CPS tried to drop the case against Mohammed Bilal Ali, Akaas Pervez, and Wajid Hussain. They admitted robbery and were each jailed for seven years.
April 2: Judge Bartfield ironically described as the "best deal of the year" a decision to charge drug baron Keith Simmons with merely producing a class C drug instead of possession with intent to supply.