The Stoke-on-Trent 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, as well as 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 ...

, which deals with civil cases, in Bethesda Street,

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

, England.

History

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

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in Albion Square,

. However, as the number of court cases in the Stoke-on-Trent area grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse. 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 ...

, on the east side of Bethesda Street, had accommodated a series of rows of terraced housing (John Street, Vine Street and Mollart Street) before the area was cleared. The new building 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

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 red brick at a cost of £9.5 million, and was officially opened by the Lord Chief Justice,

Lord Lane Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992. The later part of his term was marred by a succession of disputed convictions. Lane's criti ...

, on 5 December 1991. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of 14 bays facing onto Bethesda Street. The central section of eight bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

formed by four columns supporting a flat canopy. On the first floor, above the canopy, there were three round headed windows surmounted by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

containing a Royal coat of arms. The left hand section of four bays, the outer bays in the central section, and the right hand section of two bays, were all fenestrated with single, double or triple

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 ...

s on both floors. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate six courtrooms. Notable cases included the trial and conviction of the Irish gangster, Thomas Kavanagh, in September 2019, on firearms charges, and the trial and conviction of Jordan Birch, in November 2019, on a charge of dangerous driving in connection with the death of the rapper,

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

References

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External links

Court information
Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1991 Court buildings in England