Islands jury trials moved due to GEOAmey problems
Jury trials in island sheriff courts across Grampian, Highland & Islands are being moved to the mainland due to continuing difficulties with contractor GEOAmey delivering prisoners to court.
Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle has made requiring new jury trials which would have called at Stornoway, Lerwick, Kirkwall, Portree and Lochmaddy Sheriff Courts to call at Inverness, Aberdeen or Peterhead Sheriff Courts instead. Existing jury trials scheduled at Lochmaddy and Portree will be transferred to Inverness.
Existing scheduled jury trials at Stornoway and Lerwick, and all other court business, will continue to call at their respective courts. That includes first diets and continued first diets, diets of deferred sentence fixed in those courts, and proceedings for review of or breach of community payback orders or drug treatment and testing orders imposed in those courts.
Problems with GEOAmey have been experienced across Scotland, with custody courts frequently having to sit into the evening due to the late delivery of prisoners. The company has blamed staff shortages.
Sheriff Principal Pyle states in a memorandum: "The problems in the operation of the prisoner escort contract are a matter of public record. They are not exclusive to our sheriffdom. Indeed, I understand that severe disruption has occurred in the High Court, never mind in many sheriff courts throughout the country.
"It has recently become clear to me, however, that the contractor, GEOAmey, cannot perform its obligations for your courts, to a degree that it has become certain that jury trials would be due to start on the day only to find that prisoner escorts were unavailable. As you will appreciate, that is not just an issue for cases where the accused is in custody; even if bail has been granted it is impossible to conduct a jury trial without an escort."
He had had "no satisfactory answer" to the question when the present problems could be expected to end, and was therefore "unable to give any indication of when matters will return to normal”.
Defence agent Ian Moir tweeted in response: "What about the cost to the accused/witnesses of accommodation in Inverness in high season and travel costs. How are agents in smaller rural courts going to cover the business there while also juggling solemn business several hours drive away?"