9:30am Friday 8th August 2008
FLOODING has driven the judges out of York Crown Court for an indefinite period – the second time in three years a disaster has closed the courthouse.
But defendants will still have to face justice because the court was sitting today at Leeds Crown Court.
Three years ago, an arsonist closed the York courthouse for three months by firebombing.
Staff were hoping for a quicker reopening after Wednesday’s torrential downpour soaked through the building’s structure into courtroom one, the barristers’ robing room and other parts of the Grade One listed 200-year-old courthouse.
“Obviously we are doing whatever we can in response to this to try and get the building fit for its purpose again,” said court manager Wendy Forsdyke.
Until the damage is fully assessed, staff have no idea when it can reopen for business. Because of its Grade One status, all maintenance and repair work has to comply with strict regulations to ensure that the courthouse retains its authentic historic nature.
As soon as the flooding became apparent, staff cancelled yesterday’s sitting and worked long into the evening after the cloudburst to alert barristers, solicitors and others who were expecting to attend court yesterday. But defendants and recovering drug addicts due to attend court-ordered rehabilitation reviews still turned up at the flood-hit building expecting for their cases to be heard. They were told to go away and attend on other days.
Inside, building experts were examining the water damage in a witness room, part of the upstairs robing room where barristers prepare for cases, an administration office and the cells.
Ms Forsdyke stressed the damage was limited and there was no flooding caused by groundwater rising through the floor.
In the court offices, staff were working hard to move all cases due to be heard at York to Leeds. Management were today deciding where cases would be heard from Monday onwards.
In 2005, an arsonist threw a firebomb through the front door during the New Year break, causing major damage to the entrance hall and smoke damage elsewhere.
Judges, lawyers, defendants and others had to travel to Leeds and Middlesbrough for cases until early April when the courthouse reopened.
