Release of defendant held beyond custody time limits ‘was not open’ to Judge Keith Raynor, says high court
A crown court judge, who criticised the government for failing to fund the criminal justice system adequately during the pandemic, should not have freed a defendant awaiting trial, the high court has ruled.
Judge Keith Raynor’s decision in September to release a teenager who had been held on remand for almost a year – and beyond normal custody time limits – was one that was “not open to him”, the lord chief justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, said.
