A NUMBER of crown court trials involving defendants on bail will be moved from Chester to Liverpool to address a growing backlog of cases, it has emerged.

Trials expected to take up to three days will be listed in both city courts but an official notice from HM Courts and Tribunals Service states: “The expectation is that the majority of cases will be transferred to Liverpool Crown Court unless there is a compelling reason for the case to remain listed in Cheshire.”

Trials involving local defendants who are in custody will remain listed at Chester Crown Court, as will preliminary ‘plea and trial preparation’ hearings.

The notice added: “It is expected that this temporary arrangement... will ease the pressure on the Cheshire listing diary and result in reduced trial waiting times in Cheshire.”

Trials regularly take months to be heard at Chester Crown Court and lengthier cases can take more than a year.

Concerns have been raised nationally that waiting times can have serious effects on the quality of evidence provided by witnesses, as the longer they have to wait, the more difficult it is to remember facts and details with clarity.

A report by the National Audit Office in March last year revealed there had been a 34 per cent increase in the backlog of cases in crown courts since March 2013.

Waiting times for crown court hearings had also soared by 35 per cent, from 99 to 134 days.

Stress caused by delays meant only 55 per cent of victims or witnesses would be prepared to put themselves through the ordeal of giving evidence in court second time.

The report also stated that spending on the justice and courts system had fallen by 26 per cent in real terms since 2010/11 “and this is set to continue”.

Prosecution and defence teams in Chester cases have been told to advise witnesses and defendants of the possibility that their case will be heard in Liverpool.

The official notice added: “Once a case has been listed for trial at Liverpool, it will immediately be transferred in full and treated thereafter as a Liverpool case and will remain a Liverpool Crown Court case until conclusion.

“This temporary arrangement will be kept under review and will remain until the current trial lead-in times at Chester are more closely aligned with those at Liverpool.

“Once this has been achieved, Chester cases will fully revert to being listed for trial at Chester or Warrington Crown Court.

“A formal review will take place at the end of July 2017.”