Scrapping Jury Trials a ‘Slippery Slope’ – Guido Fawkes

Jenrick: Scrapping Jury Trials a ‘Slippery Slope’

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick was granted an Urgent Question in the Commons today over Leveson’s review into the courts. The review recommends scrapping jury trials in a swathe of cases, ramping up court sitting days, and offering hefty discounts for early guilty pleas. If Labour accept the recommendations as expected, criminals could walk free after serving just 20% of their sentence…

Jenrick tore into the proposals:

“This could see criminals serve as little as a fifth of their sentence when combined with the Gauke review. 20% of a sentence served. Is that justice for victims? And just as concerning is the proposal to scrap jury trials in many cases. This is a slippery slope towards abolishing jury trials altogether.”

He also pointed out that scrapping some jury trials would save just £31 million. Jenrick pressed justice minister Sarah Sackman on whether she would rule out “letting drug dealers and thieves avoid even a criminal record.” She didn’t. Labour imposing its increasingly creative ideas on the justice system…