Judge delivers harsh verdict on the officers of justice

A SENIOR Crown Court judge used his retirement speech to provide a damning assessment of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police.

Judge Christopher Ball QC accused the CPS of making “daft” decisions and said their charging lawyers “don’t have sufficient brain cells to understand all the dynamics of the criminal trial”.

Rounding on the police, the judge, who has sat at the Crown Court since 2001, said that except for high-profile cases, they had “almost completely disengaged from the trial process”.

He acknowledged that the police and CPS had “an almost impossible and certainly thankless task”.

He also accepted that the CPS was suffering enormous financial pressures and loss of manpower.

But he said their presence in court had “almost disappeared” and continued: “It’s a matter of regret that the CPS are not present in court because how will they truly appreciate the skill of the advocate, who are the good advocates who present skilled arguments, who are on top of their case?”

He added that the CPS “invest the decision-making in so many difficult cases to people who have practically no experience of the criminal trial”.

Taking his leave at Chelmsford Crown Court, he said: “They don’t have sufficient brain cells to understand all the dynamics of the criminal trial and if only some of their lawyers, those responsible for charging decisions, had the experience we would not have so many daft decisions being made.”

Turning his attention to the police, Judge Ball said they had the hardest job of all, with their lives on the line every day. But he said: “The police have almost completely disengaged from the trial process. Save for a few high-profile cases where there’s a small team of dedicated officers, they don’t come to court and if you don’t come to court you don’t learn what is required of you in your job and in your presentation of evidence.

“Both CPS and police have become obsessed with process when they ought to have a higher regard for proceedings in the court building.”

Judge Ball has been responsible for a number of controversial decisions. Last month he imposed a community order on a music teacher caught with porn and bestiality images on his computer and refused to ban him from continuing to teach youngsters.

In another case he spared an 18-yearold serial burglar, who had committed 700 crimes, from prison and ruled that he should be provided with a flat to live in Chelmsford. Judge Ball was resident judge for eight years at Chelmsford Crown Court from 2004.