Treatment of suspects in west Kent branded ‘inhumane’ by law expert

The treatment of suspects in a part of Kent has been branded “inhumane” as their rights are being “denied”, claimed the area’s law society. A change in the use of magistrates courts in Kent, means defendants in west Kent are not getting proper access to legal advice, claimed the Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and District Law Society.

It said the duty solicitor, who helps those suspects without legal representation and advises on critical matters such as whether or not a suspect should plead guilty, was now based at Medway Magistrates’ Court. This means suspects brought from Tonbridge Police Station to Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court can no longer meet a duty solicitor face-to-face and have been told to use a phone, said the society.

And they also don’t appear in person at court, as they are heard by Medway Magistrates’ Court via videolink set up at Sevenoaks. “To deny people in this position access to a legal adviser they can see is inhumane. Equally, those who are advised to plead guilty are being asked to trust the advice of a stranger’s voice over the phone,” said the society’s president John Spence in a strongly-worded open letter to the court manager at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

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He called for an “urgent” resolution of the problem. He said: “While those persons remanded at Medway Magistrates’ Court may speak to their solicitor face-to-face in the cells, we realise that the same cannot happen for those detained at Sevenoaks while their solicitor is at Medway.

To deny them access is ‘inhumane’

“We understand a videolink system has been installed at Sevenoaks to allow detainees to have a private consultation with their solicitor in Medway, but this is not operational due to insufficient security staffing levels at Sevenoaks.

“We are told the court’s response to this concern is to advise the duty solicitor to use a phone instead. This approach is wholly unsatisfactory. Those remanded persons have had their liberty deprived and may be facing the continued loss of their liberty.

“Important decisions will need to be made which will affect the progress of their case, potentially for months if not years given the current court backlog.” said Mr Spence, a partner at CooperBurnett LLP in Tunbridge Wells.

“To deny people in this position access to a legal adviser they can see is inhumane. Equally, those who are advised to plead guilty are being asked to trust the advice of a stranger’s voice over the phone. Given the reluctance of some to accept wrongdoing, we question how this approach may lead to the swiftest possible resolution to a case for the court, the defendant and the victims.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “The video link system at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court is now fully operational and we are working with the local legal community to improve access to face-to-face legal advice.”

KentLive understands there is now sufficient staff to ensure defendants can use the video-link at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court to speak to their solicitors and also, that telephone conversations between defendants and solicitors are only used as a second option if the video-call cell is unavailable.

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