Woolwich Crown Court, located at 2 Belmarsh Road, Thamesmead is one of twelve Crown Court centres serving Greater London.
It is adjacent to both HM Prison Belmarsh and Belmarsh Magistrate's Court. Operational from 1993, it has 12 courtrooms[1] and deals with more than 750 cases a year.
Woolwich Crown Court was designed as a high-security courtroom and is now the preferred venue for terrorism trials. Formerly, terrorist cases in the London area would be heard at the Old Bailey. Improvements have been made to courtrooms 1 and 2 at the cost of £600,000 to enhance their ability to handle complex terrorism trials, particularly those involving multiple defendants. A tunnel links the court to HM Prison Belmarsh, which is a high-security prison.[2] This provides a secure route for bringing defendants in high-profile terrorist cases before the court. Armed police can be deployed to provide security.[3]
On 15 January 2007, Woolwich Crown Court began hearing the trial of the six men accused of attempting the 21 July 2005 London bombings on the London transport network. It is also the venue for the trials of those charged with offences from the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot and the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary in 2015.
References
- ^ http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/xhibit/woolwich.htm
- ^ "Belmarsh: A 'complex' jail". BBC News. 8 March 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Judges unsure about prefab courts". BBC News. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
External links