A violent abuser walked free from court today after the court missed the deadline to hear his case by a matter of seconds.
James Sinden, 40, was arrested at 11.25am in Brighton yesterday for breaching a domestic violence protection order.
But the law says he had to be brought before magistrates within 24 hours – and when the bench started sitting at 10am in Court 2 of Brighton Magistrates Court this morning, he was still in police cells.
The court was told he had not been put on the first van to court, and would be brought on the next one.
With the clock now ticking, the court was told shortly after 11am he was in the car park.
At 11.23am, the door to the dock was unlocked, and the custody staff brought him into court.
His defence counsel, Stephen Paley, appeared a minute later and took his place.
But the bench had retired for a break – and only made it back seconds after the 24 hours had expired.
Addressing the court on behalf of Sussex Police, barrister David Reader said: “This is the sixth order which has been made, and there have been multiple breaches.
“The defendant was arrested at 11.45am yesterday. The case has to be called in on time by 11.25am. It is now out of time.”
Sinden, who told the court he was living in Martlet Court, Brighton, looked confused but relieved as presiding magistrate Diane Hurrell told him: “If you breach this again, you will have two months in prison, have no doubt about that, none whatsoever.
“You are free to go.”
All six orders, which date back more than four years, required Sinden not to contact, harass or go to the address of his ex-partner.
Each order is made for 28 days and the current one expires on 16 November. Previous ones were made on 4 September 2023, 27 July 2023, 14 June 2022, 29 April 2020 and 28 August 2019.
In May 2020, he was sent to prison for 21 days for breaching the April 2020 order by contacting the woman- just days after being taken into custody for doing the same thing.
In August this year, he was fined £100 for breaching the July 2023 order when he became angry at her address and then was found by police hiding in a bush outside.
What a disaster. I hope that the victim remains safe and that they are supported to reduce their risk from James.
I would have thought the Golden Rule of statutory interpretation would apply in this instance to avoid a clear absurdity.
What an absolute joke. You only have to spend a day at Brighton Magistrates Court to witness the total, utter chaos and confusion that takes place on a daily basis. Was the police barrister not aware of the time constraint? Had he not read the detailed case file which would have been sent in by the police some days previously. At least briefly read it at the start of the day. And I wonder how much his law firm charged Sussex Police for his disastrous day in court.
I may have to edit the story if it’s not clear, but the police barrister was reminding the court from the very start of the session at 10am that it was time limited. And he would only have been given the case file that morning, as Sinden was only arrested the day before – it’s a very tight 24 hour limit.
From where I was sitting, the blame lay mostly at the feet of police transport. Although obviously there may have been reasons the court was unaware of to explain why he hadn’t been put on the first van of the day.
But yes, you’re absolutely right about the delays to justice on a daily basis – most stemming from a creaking, underfunded system.
The police are not responsible for the transport to court I believe it’s an outside agency that do this part.
I know this lovely lady who has been the victim of an horrendous domestic violence abuse. I would just like to say. Hopefully this is now going to be the end of this and hopefully she is now free to be herself 😆