Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what options are available to a magistrates’ court when an unrepresented serving prisoner refuses to leave their prison cell to face new either-way offence charges.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Where a magistrates’ court is dealing with a new offence which is triable either-way, and the defendant is an unrepresented serving prisoner who does not attend either in person or through a live link, the court will need to adjourn the case. This will enable either the defendant to attend, or the Crown Prosecution Service to consider alternative procedural routes.