No cells at Wrexham Magistrates court means some cases will move to Mold

A number of court cases will be switched from Wrexham to Mold from August for an unknown period of time, Ian Lucas MP has learned.

Mr Lucas has spoken in Parliament about the situation, which he says represents a blow to the town’s standing as a major civic centre in North Wales.

Wrexham Magistrates Court currently shares cells with the neighbouring police station at Bodhyfryd – but those facilities will be lost to the court as the station is due to close ready for demolition as the police move into a new £21.5m base at Llay later this year.

Mr Lucas, himself a former solicitor, has been warning the Ministry of Justice for a number of years that cells need to be built at the magistrates’ court so it can still handle custodial cases once the main police station closes and moves out of the town centre.

However, no custody facilities have yet been built there, meaning the court can’t be used for cases that have a custodial requirement.

Mr Lucas raised the matter in Parliament on Monday noting that his persistence on the matter could be seen by the Ministry of Justice as being ‘obsessed’ due to it being a long term issue.

He said: “The cells at Wrexham magistrates court are important, because ​at present they are served by the local police station, which is in the process of closing. I raised the closure of the police station because I knew that when the police station closed, the custody facility at Wrexham magistrates court would also disappear. Towns are very important places, and solicitors’ practices in towns that serve places such as magistrates courts are also very important.”

“None of that appears to have occurred to the Ministry of Justice or, indeed, North Wales police, which clearly had not thought about what would happen to the cells at Wrexham magistrates court until I raised the issue some years ago. That began a sequence of correspondence with the Ministry of Justice and with Ministers concerning the magistrates court and led me to secure in 2016 what I believed was an undertaking from the then Minister that criminal cases would continue to be heard in Wrexham—the largest town in north Wales—and that custody facilities would be developed and built to serve the court.

“I was therefore very upset last week to receive a notice that I believe was sent to magistrates in Wrexham, saying: “As you are aware, the closure of Wrexham Police station has led to the loss of the shared custodial facilities at Wrexham Magistrates Court. As such, from Friday 17 August, cases that have a custodial requirement will be listed at Mold.”

“That is exactly what I have been working for a number of years to avoid. My objective has been to ensure that there continues to be a fully functioning and effective working magistrates court in the largest town in north Wales.”

Mr Lucas said such decisions had been made by without him being notified or contacted, despite his ongoing concerns and interventions.

“It seems to me that this is a microcosm of how the court system is now operating certainly in Wales and, I am sure, across England too. The remoteness of the court system and the administration from Members of Parliament and from their local communities is the absolute antithesis of what a local system of justice should be. I, as the Member of Parliament, have no idea what the correct point of contact is. I would therefore welcome a complete rethink by Ministers on the Front Bench as far as the courts are concerned, and I would welcome a re-engagement with elected Members of Parliament about the future of their local magistrates courts and the local justice system.”

“Local justice is hugely important, and towns need the thriving local businesses—for example, solicitors’ offices—that serve the magistrates court in civic centres such as Wrexham. The way in which the Government and the Ministry of Justice are operating at the moment is that they have scant regard for those towns, for the Members of Parliament and for the people that I represent. That needs to change fundamentally, and I would really welcome such a change from the Ministers.”

When asked by Wrexham.com for a comment on the issue, Mr Lucas said: “I have been warning about this for several years but those warnings appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Now we find ourselves in a position where the police station is soon to close, yet there are no new cells at the magistrates’ court. Wrexham is the largest town in North Wales and the loss of custodial cases to Mold detracts from its role as a major civic centre for the area.

“This news, coupled with the closure of HMRC in Wrexham, shows the Tories have no commitment to providing decent public services in Wrexham.”

There does seem to be some activity on the construction front although no formal dates for construction or completion. This week, several months after we published a couple of articles in January when planning applications were placed for the cells, we were contacted by Interserve Construction asking to remove planning images as they were “seen as a serious breach of MOJ and HMCTS security”. The images were from the public planning application documents circulated by Wrexham Council, which appear to have since been replaced by redacted versions.

We did enquire how long the gap between police station closure and new cell construction would be, however have yet not had a response.