'I'm a victim, Starmer is right to cut jury trials', says caller Vicki
Deputy PM David Lammy has been proposing to cut jury trials for all but the most serious of cases
Caller Vicki, who endured years of court delays, has told Ben Kentish that cutting jury trials might be a price worth paying, and why it could save people like her.
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"Defendants should have rights, but victims need them too," she said on the show over the weekend.
David Lammy announched the plans back in December, saying the new system of trials without a jury would get cases dealt with a fifth faster than jury trials.
He said it was necessary as with current projections, case loads will reach 100,000 by 2028.
However, prime minister in waiting Andy Burnham is said to be preparing to remove controversial plans to curb jury trials from Mr Lammy’s courts bill.
During the Makerfield by-election, the former Manchester mayor referred to the right to trial by jury as a “lynchpin of a fair society”.
Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, told LBC: “Let’s be clear – despite the government’s climb down from five back to three years, the proposal as announced today, brings a wrecking ball to a system that is fundamentally sound and has been in place for generations."