A total of 54 cases have been adjourned for pleas, trial or pre-sentence reports and eight cases have resulted in offenders being remanded into custody.

Cheshire’s Domestic Abuse Court has dealt with 168 cases since being re-opened last month after lengthy closure due to the pandemic

A dedicated police officer with specialist knowledge and skills is based at the court which is situated within Warrington Magistrates’ Court to liaise with CPS and police to ensure that there are no issues that could risk delaying the case, causing it to be re-listed or deferred to a later date.

In its first month of operation since re-opening on 4 April, 168 cases have been listed and of these, 42 cases have been dealt with on the first appearance with 13 committed to crown court for trial, sentencing or plea hearing.

A total of 54 cases have been adjourned for pleas, trial or pre-sentence reports and eight cases have resulted in offenders being remanded into custody.

Specialist domestic violence courts were first introduced in England and Wales in 2005. They attracted some criticism when they were initially rolled out including from Victims Commissioner Vera Baird who said there were significant gaps in the system and that if funding wasn’t improved, SDVCs could not work as originally intended.

At the Warrington SDVC any case where there is a charge for a domestic abuse offence will be heard and will remain there unless a trial is required to ensure consistency in how cases are prepared and dealt with.

Assistant Chief Constable Una Jennings said: “From early observations we are seeing a positive effect on the number of guilty pleas from offenders and it is great to see, so early on, the impact that this court is having by cutting down on waiting times for cases to reach court and securing justice for victims and their families.

“I made a pledge to tackle priority areas such as domestic abuse and violence against women and girls and I know that this court is helping to reinforce my message that domestic abuse has no place here in Cheshire.

“However, I know that we are only scratching the surface of this problem in our county.

“It is our aim that more victims of domestic abuse can see how this court is leading the way in tackling this abuse and have the confidence in us to deliver justice swiftly for them and remove these dangerous offenders from our streets and their homes.”