Top judge demands reform to fast-track justice after a grieving mother's case

GRIEVING families, pensioners with dementia, and even dead people have been wrongly prosecuted in Britain's secretive fast-track courts, a major Evening Standard/ITV News investigation has found.

- Tristan Kirk

Analysis by a panel of barristers of a sample of prosecutions under the controversial Single Justice Procedure (SJP) concluded three quarters should never have gone through court. These included cases against sick and vulnerable defendants and even children.

A mother grieving the death of her baby daughter who was prosecuted for accidentally letting her car insurance lapse for a single day has now spoken out alongside a top judge, calling for urgent reform of the SJP system.

Our investigation has uncovered criminal cases brought against women fleeing domestic violence over unpaid TV licences, as well as cancer patients and sick pensioners taken to court when bills went unpaid. In at least two cases, people were convicted in the fast-track courts despite the fact they had died.