Leeds Combined Court Centre is a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

venue, which deals with criminal cases, and a

County Court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...

venue, which deals with civil cases, in Oxford Row,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It is adjacent to Leeds Magistrates Courts.

History

Until the 1970s, the

assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

and

quarter session The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

s in Leeds were held in

Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...

. However, as the number of court cases in Leeds grew, it became necessary to commission a dedicated courthouse, both for criminal and civil matters. The site selected by the

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. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...

was based around a narrow lane known as "Oxford Street" which branched off Westgate to the north. The Leeds Combined Court Centre was designed by the

Property Services Agency The Property Services Agency (PSA) was an agency of the United Kingdom government, in existence from 1972 to 1993. Its role was to “provide, manage, maintain, and furnish the property used by the government, including defence establishments, offi ...

in the

modern style The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native ...

, built in red brick at a cost of £9.7 million, and was completed in 1982. The design of the complex involved an asymmetrical main frontage of eight bays facing onto Westgate. The main entrance was established in the Oxford Row, and the Westgate frontage was fenestrated by a distinctive row of 16 modern

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

s on the second floor. The complex, which was intended to accommodate the Crown Court (for criminal cases) and the County Court (for civil cases), was built with five courtrooms and was subsequently supplemented by additional accommodation at Coverdale House in East Parade providing another seven courtrooms.

Notable cases

As Leeds Assizes

Notable cases heard at the court have been: *

Zsiga Pankotia Zsiga Pankotia (or Pankotai) was a 31-year-old Hungarian-born murderer who was hanged on Thursday, 29 June 1961 at Armley Gaol, Leeds, West Yorkshire, (now HM Prison Leeds). He was hanged by Harry Allen for the murder of Jack Eli Myers in a hou ...

– found guilty of murder, becoming the last man to be hanged at

Armley Gaol HM Prison Leeds is a Category B men's prison, located at Gloucester Terrace in the Armley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1847. Leeds Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is still known locally as ...

, in 1961.

As Leeds Crown Court

John Poulson John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (14 April 1910 – 31 January 1993) was a British architectural designer and businessman who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery was disclosed in 1972. The highest-ranking figure to be forced ...

– found guilty of fraud and sentenced to five years imprisonment (later increased to seven years) in 1974. *Stefan Kiszko – found guilty of the

murder of Lesley Molseed Lesley Molseed , born Lesley Susan Anderson, was an English schoolgirl who was abducted and murdered on 5 October 1975 in West Yorkshire. Stefan Kiszko ( ), an intellectually disabled man who lived near Molseed's residence in Greater Mancheste ...

and wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment in 1976. *Gary Hart – found guilty of

causing death by dangerous driving Causing death by dangerous driving is a statutory offence in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is an aggravated form of dangerous driving. It is currently created by section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as substituted by the ...

in connection with the

Selby rail crash The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck Rail Crash) was a high-speed train crash that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28February 2001. An InterCity 225 passenger train operated by Great ...

and sentenced to five years imprisonment in 2001. *

Nick Griffin Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...

– acquitted of

incitement to racial hatred Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries. Australia In Australia, the Racial Hatred Act 1995 amends the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, inserting Part IIA – Offensive Behaviour Because of Race, Colour ...

in 2006. *

Wearside Jack Wearside Jack is the nickname given to John Samuel Humble (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2019), a British man who pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper in a hoax audio recording and several letters during the period 1978–1979. Humble sent a taped ...

– The

Yorkshire Ripper Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...

hoaxer, found guilty of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2006. * John Darwin – canoeist, who faked his own death in a life insurance fraud, found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment in 2008. *Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan – found guilty of the

kidnapping of Shannon Matthews On 19 February 2008, Shannon Louise Matthews (born 9 September 1998), a nine-year-old girl, was reported missing in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. The search for her became a major missing person police operation which was compared to the d ...

child neglect A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers (e.g., parents) that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physica ...

and perverting the course of justice and sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2008. *Will Cornick – found guilty of the murder of his teacher, Ann Maguire, and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014. *Colin Gregg – heir to

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on t ...

bakery chain and former headmaster, found guilty of sexually abusing four boys and sentenced to 13½ years imprisonment (later reduced by the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

to 8½ years) in 2017.

References

External links

{{commons category, Leeds Crown Court
Court information
Crown Court buildings Buildings and structures in Leeds Court buildings in England Government buildings completed in 1982