Scrapping of jury trials will do ‘next to nothing’ for rape victims

David Lammy’s plans to scrap jury trials in some cases will do “next to nothing” for victims of rape caught up in the courts backlog, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said.

The Justice Secretary announced plans to reserve jury trials for the most serious offences such as murder and rape, and those with a likely sentence of more than three years in prison, in a bid to lessen pressure on the crown courts.

Following the announcement, Mr Lammy appeared to draw correlations between the court delays and victims withdrawing from the justice process.

In the Commons, justice minister Sarah Sackman said delays are a “key factor” in victims’ decisions to withdraw from the process.

This came in response to Mr Jenrick who accused the Government of “slashing jury trials under false pretences”