Northampton Crown Court

Northampton Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Lady's Lane in Northampton, England.

Northampton Crown Court
Northampton Crown Court
LocationLady's Lane, Northampton
Coordinates52°14′27″N 0°53′37″W / 52.2408°N 0.8936°W / 52.2408; -0.8936
Built1991
Architectural style(s)Modern style
Northampton Crown Court is located in Northamptonshire
Northampton Crown Court
Shown in Northamptonshire

History

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Until the late 1980s, criminal court hearings in Northampton were held in the Sessions House.[1][2] However, as the number of court cases in Northampton grew, it became necessary to commission a more substantial courthouse for criminal matters. The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department had accommodated a series of rows of terraced housing (Kerr Street and Park Street) before the area was cleared.[3]

The building was designed by Kit Allsopp architects,[4] built in buff stone at a cost of £11.5 million,[5] and was completed in 1987.[6] The design involved two gabled sections connected by a recessed glass atrium facing onto Lady's Lane. The right hand gabled section was fenestrated by a small square window on the ground floor and featured a prominent Royal coat of arms mounted on the brickwork at first floor level. Internally, the building was equipped with four courtrooms.[7] The design won the Summer Exhibition Award from the Royal Academy of Arts in 1986.[6] As a second-tier court, the complex was originally commissioned to deal solely with criminal cases,[8] but was later remodelled to include provision for the County Court, which deals with civil cases, and the Family Court as well.[9]

Notable cases

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Notable cases heard at the courthouse include:

References

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  1. ^ The Solicitors' and Barristers' Directory and Diary. Vol. 1. The Law Society. 1986. p. 26.
  2. ^ "The noose is around the neck of Northampton's old County Hall". The Nene Quirer. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1914. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. ^ Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
  5. ^ "Capital Building Programme". Hansard. 26 January 1996. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b "British Architecture". Hansard. 30 March 1988. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Northampton Crown Court". The Law Pages. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  8. ^ Whitaker's Concise Almanack 2012. Whitaker's. p. 320.
  9. ^ "Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the Midlands region" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Three get life in jail for racist killing". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Drummer guilty of sex attacks". BBC. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Father who murdered baby daughter jailed for life". The Guardian. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Two guilty of club takeover fraud". BBC News. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Anxiang Du jailed for Ding family murders in Northampton". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Man imprisoned for life after attempted murder of officer in Northamptonshire prison". Northampton Chronicle. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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