Big Decrease in Guilty Pleas Putting ‘Unbearable Pressure’ on Courts, Says Bar Council Chairman

The new chairman of the Bar Council, Sam Townend, KC, has said a big fall in the number of defendants pleading guilty at an early stage was putting “unbearable pressure” on the criminal justice system. The Bar Council is a professional body representing barristers in England and Wales. In his inauguration speech as its new chairman at the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in central London on Tuesday night, Mr. Townend highlighted what he said was the parlous state of the criminal justice system and said neither of the two main political parties was addressing the issue. Mr. Townend said guilty pleas were down from 85 percent on the first day of a trial ten years ago to 36 percent today....