“You May As Well Take Him Across To Bradford With You And Save Me The Journey!”
Illustration by Steve Spencer
Fans of Sally Wainwright’s gritty crime drama Happy Valley starring Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran, will be used to seeing a steady flow of villains sent off to court.
However, the reality of processing criminals in the Calder Valley, where the drama is filmed, couldn’t be more different to PC Catherine Cawood’s beat and Halifax is having to cope with the injustice of losing not one, but both of its courts.
As part of the government’s ploy to make savings, the Ministry for Justice is set to close Halifax County Court and Calderdale Magistrates Court later in 2016.
This could mean many cases will be heard in neighbouring Bradford which will inevitably lead to extra costs in getting to the courts in that city.
There is also concern that the town’s criminal and civil law firms will close their offices and follow their cases over to Bradford. This will have a negative impact on Halifax’s local economy with staff migrating to Bradford leaving empty office space to fill.
One Response
Jonathan Handley
Interesting scenario,
Are law firms likely to move, just to be nearer the courts, when their ´clients´ are local?
(Catherine Cawood is a Serjeant in Happy Valley, not a PC)