HUNDREDS of people in York and Selby have failed to attend court since the closure of Selby Magistrates’ Court, but fewer than in previous years.

Information released by HM Courts and Tribunals Service under a Freedom Of Information request show 35.8 per cent of defendants due to appear before York and Selby Magistrates’ Court in the nine months to December 2013 did not turn up.

Selby Magistrates’ Court closed in March last year, after hearing cases in the town for more than 150 years, despite campaigns by the public and local councillors to keep it open.

Reported by the York Press. You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.