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Preston Crown Court

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Preston Crown Court
Preston Law Courts (geograph 3100494).jpg
The main entrance to the building
Preston Crown Court is located in Preston city centre
Preston Crown Court
Alternative namesPreston Combined Court Centre
General information
AddressThe Law Courts, Openshaw Place, Ring Way
Town or cityPreston
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°45′45″N 2°41′56″W / 53.7624°N 2.6989°W / 53.7624; -2.6989Coordinates: 53°45′45″N 2°41′56″W / 53.7624°N 2.6989°W / 53.7624; -2.6989
Opened1996; 27 years ago (1996)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alistair Sutherland
Architecture firmAustin-Smith:Lord
Website
courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/courts/preston-combined-court-centre

Preston Crown Court or more properly the Crown Court at Preston is a criminal court on the Ring Way in Preston, Lancashire, England. The court is based on two sites in the city; Preston Combined Court Centre on Ringway and Sessions House on Lancaster Road.[1] As a first tier court centre, the court deals with all types of cases that are heard in the Crown Court as well as being a trial centre for civil High Court cases; it is also a venue for the County Court where smaller civil cases and family cases are dealt with.[1]

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History

Until the mid-1980s, all Crown Court cases were heard at the Sessions House on Lancaster Road. However, as the number of court cases in Preston grew, it became necessary to commission a more substantial courthouse for both criminal and civil matters. The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department was occupied by the Saul Street Public Baths which had been built in 1936.[2]

The current combined court centre building was designed by Alistair Sutherland of architects Austin-Smith:Lord, built in red brick and glass and was opened in 1996.[3] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of 15 bays facing onto Ringway, curving round towards Saul Street and, connected by a glass entrance section, meeting another section of five bays also facing onto Ringway but set back from the road. The glass entrance section, which featured columns supporting a canopy and a brick drum-shaped structure, led to a full-height atrium. Internally, the building was equipped with ten courtrooms.[4]

Notable cases heard in the courthouse have included the trial and conviction, in February 2013, of Dale Cregan for the murders of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone[5] the trial and conviction, in May 2014, of Stuart Hall for indecent assault[6] and the trial and conviction, in August 2021, of seven men for the murder of Aya Hachem.[7][8]

Cases have also included the trials and subsequent acquittals of William Roache over rape allegations in January 2014,[9] of Nigel Evans over sexual assault allegations in April 2014[10] and of Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was match commander at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, over allegations of gross negligence manslaughter in November 2019.[11][12]

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Sessions House, Preston

Sessions House, Preston

The Sessions House is a courthouse in Harris Street, Preston, Lancashire, England. The courthouse, which continues to be used for judicial purposes as well as being used as administrative offices for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, is a Grade II* listed building.

Lord Chancellor's Department

Lord Chancellor's Department

The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales.

Austin-Smith:Lord

Austin-Smith:Lord

Austin-Smith:Lord is a British architectural firm, established in 1949.

Canopy (building)

Canopy (building)

A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter from weather conditions such as sun, hail, snow and rain. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor. The word comes from the ancient Greek κωνώπειον, from κώνωψ, which is a bahuvrihi compound meaning "mosquito". The first 'o' changing into 'a' may be due to influence from the place name Canopus, Egypt thought of as a place of luxuries.

Drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

Atrium (architecture)

Atrium (architecture)

In architecture, an atrium is a large open-air or skylight-covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing light and ventilation to the interior. Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are often several stories high, with a glazed roof or large windows, and often located immediately beyond a building's main entrance doors.

Murders of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone

Murders of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone

On 18 September 2012, two Greater Manchester Police officers, Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, were killed by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade ambush while responding to a report of a burglary in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England.

Stuart Hall (presenter)

Stuart Hall (presenter)

James Stuart Hall Jr. is an English former media personality. He presented regional news programmes for the BBC in North West England in the 1960s and 1970s, while becoming known nationally for presenting the game show It's a Knockout. Hall's later career mainly involved football reporting on BBC Radio. In June 2013, he was convicted of multiple sexual offences against children, effectively ending his media and broadcasting career.

Murder of Aya Hachem

Murder of Aya Hachem

Aya Hachem was murdered in Blackburn, Lancashire, England on 17 May 2020.

William Roache

William Roache

William Patrick Roache is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street since it was first broadcast on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving television star in a continuous role.

Nigel Evans

Nigel Evans

Nigel Martin Evans is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ribble Valley constituency in Lancashire since 1992. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Joint Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee from 2017 to 2019. He served as First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, one of the Speaker's three deputies, from 2010 to 2013. He was elected as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means in 2020.

Hillsborough disaster

Hillsborough disaster

The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the two standing-only central pens in the Leppings Lane stand allocated to Liverpool supporters. Shortly before kick-off, in an attempt to ease overcrowding outside the entrance turnstiles, the police match commander, David Duckenfield, ordered exit gate C to be opened, leading to an influx of supporters entering the pens. This resulted in overcrowding of those pens and the crush. With 97 deaths and 766 injuries, it has the highest death toll in British sporting history. Ninety-four people died on the day; another person died in hospital days later, and another victim died in 1993. In July 2021, a coroner ruled that Andrew Devine, who died 32 years after suffering severe and irreversible brain damage on the day, was the 97th victim. The match was abandoned and restaged at Old Trafford in Manchester on 7 May 1989; Liverpool won and went on to win that season's FA Cup.

Source: "Preston Crown Court", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 19th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Crown_Court.

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References
  1. ^ a b "Court Finder:Preston Combined Court Centre". HMCTS. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Fancy a dip: 17 photos of Preston's Saul Street Baths through the years to bring back forgotten memories". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. ^ Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
  4. ^ "Preston Crown Court". Austin-Smith:Lord. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
  5. ^ "The most notorious cases to be heard at Preston Crown Court". Lancashire Live. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Stuart Hall found guilty of indecent assault but cleared of rape". The Guardian. 16 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Aya Hachem: Men jailed for student's murder". BBC. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Seven men jailed for life after Blackburn student killed in botched hit". The Guardian. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Coronation Street star William Roache appears in court over rape allegations". BBC. 14 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Nigel Evans found not guilty in Preston rape and sex assault trial". The Independent. 10 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Hillsborough police chief David Duckenfield cleared of manslaughter". BBC News. 28 November 2019.
  12. ^ Conn, David (28 November 2019). "How David Duckenfield's trial left Hillsborough families distraught again". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2019.

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