St Albans Crown Court 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, in Bricket Road,

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, England.

History

Until the early 1990s, crown court hearings were held in the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

in St Peter's Street. However, as the number of court cases in St Albans grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal 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 ...

had been occupied by a large private house, No. 4 Bricket Road, which had been the home of Captain Lightly Harold Birt of the 1st Battalion,

Royal Berkshire Regiment The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was created in 1881, as the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment), by ...

, who had been awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

for his actions in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The new building was designed by Macintosh Haines and Kennedy in the

Modernist style Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

, built in brown and red brick at a cost of £16.3 million, and was completed in 1992. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing onto Bricket Road with the end bays slightly recessed. The central bay, which was also slightly recessed, featured a large round headed opening on the ground floor, an eight- pane

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

surmounted by a Royal coat of arms on the first floor, and another eight-pane casement window on the second floor. The central bay was surmounted by a tower which was slightly projected forward in relation to the lower floors and contained a 16-pane casement window at attic level. The side sections, of two bays each, were fenestrated by three tall casement windows on the ground floor, two square casement windows on the first floor and by a single square casement window on the second floor. The left hand end bay was fenestrated by glazed

oculi An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in antiquity, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. It is also known as an '' œil-de-boeuf'' from the French, or simply a "bull's-e ...

on each of the three floors, while the right had bay was fenestrated by blind oculi on each of the three floors. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate nine courtrooms. Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of Stephen Marshall, known as the "Jigsaw Killer", in January 2010, for the murder of his landlord, Jeffrey Howe, the trial and conviction of Angela Taylor, in November 2019, for the murder of her wealthy husband, William Taylor, and the trial and conviction of Ian Stewart, in February 2022, for the murder of his

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

, the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Helen Bailey Helen Elizabeth Bailey (22 August 1964 – Wiktionary:circa, c. 11 April 2016) was a British author who wrote the ''Electra Brown'' series of young adult fiction, books aimed at a teenage audience. Bailey was reported missing in April 2016; th ...

References

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External links

Court information
Buildings and structures in St Albans Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1992 Court buildings in Hertfordshire