Press release
Press Release DCA506/04 - Judge named to take forward ground-breaking Community Justice Centre
18 October 2004
The judge who will lead a pioneering community justice centre in Liverpool has been named today as David Fletcher.
North Liverpool Community Justice Centre (CJC) is the first of its kind in England and Wales, and will aim to bring justice closer to the community. The centre will help tackle social problems affecting north Liverpool. It will also house a courtroom to deal with problems such as vandalism, graffiti, petty theft and drunk and disorderly behaviour – crimes that make people's lives a misery and disrupt the community.
The centre will also benefit from Merseyside Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and probation and youth offending teams all having offices at the centre to provide advice and support services. This means a joined-up, problem-solving approach can be applied to offending.
North Liverpool CJC will draw on a concept developed by Red Hook Community Justice Center in New York.
The site of the former St Gerard's School in Boundary Street, Vauxhall, was today named as the preferred location for the centre, which is due to open in 2005, with many of the services operational from December 2004.
North Liverpool CJC aims to bring a number of services under one roof, such as a courtroom and support and advice services for victims of crime, offenders and the community. Judge Fletcher will not only preside over the centre, but also monitor treatment programmes, community sentences and unpaid work, ensuring that the views of people in north Liverpool are reflected in those punishments.
Visiting the site today, Constitutional Affairs Secretary Lord Falconer said:
“What is novel about David Fletcher's role in Liverpool is that he will follow cases through after conviction - ot pass sentence and leave the treatment and follow-up to someone else.
“I am pleased that as community justice judge, David will be seen as part of the north Liverpool community. He will work with local people to make sure the centre tackles local priorities.
“The CJC will respond to the concerns of local people, and by shaping the issues the court will focus on, tackle anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods and break the cycle of crime.”
Judge Fletcher accompanied Lord Falconer and Criminal Justice Minister Baroness Scotland to Liverpool.
Baroness Scotland said:
“North Liverpool Community Justice Centre will act as focal point for the community's fight against crime and provide local people with a voice in the criminal justice system. The CJC will combine punishment and hands-on support to tackle problems and give local people quick and visible payback for the crimes they have suffered. The criminal justice system is there to serve and to respond to the needs of everyone in the community.
“Judge Fletcher will work with the local community to ensure that the CJC puts victims first, encouraging witnesses to come forward, and cracks down on petty offending and re-offending.”
Judge Fletcher said:
“This centre will be different to any other court in England and Wales, and I am committed to making it work for the benefit of residents within the area, to make it a safer, better place to live. I will have the support of a team who will help to tackle the root causes of crime by working to solve the problems that are causing people to offend, for the benefit of the whole community.”
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said:
“I have seen what a community justice centre in operation can achieve. I am delighted Liverpool will be the trailblazer. The Crown Prosecution Service is playing a key part in establishing this centre, and the prosecutors are committed to engaging with the community so that the CJC's work reflects the concerns and needs of the local people. I am very pleased with the progress we have seen so far, and I am sure that Judge Fletcher will build on that success and make the CJC a living example of effective, fair and focused community justice.”
Notes to Editors:
1. David Fletcher was born in 1957, and has been a district judge in Sheffield since 2003, having been an acting stipendiary magistrate and deputy district judge between 1998 and 2003. He graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1978, becoming a solicitor in 1981.
David Fletcher's hobbies include swimming, travel, cooking and football. He is married with two children.
2. The post of community justice judge is full-time and will be remunerated at Circuit Judge level.
3. An advert for the post of community justice judge was placed in The Times newspaper on 29 June 2004. David Fletcher was selected from 17 candidates.
4. North Liverpool Community Justice Centre will operate as a pilot project until the end of 2006. The centre will cover the following areas of north Liverpool: Anfield, Breckfield, Everton, Vauxhall, County, Melrose and Kirkdale.
5. In September 2003, Home Secretary David Blunkett announced the creation of North Liverpool Community Justice Centre, a joint initiative by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Home Office and the Attorney General's Office.