Maidstone Law Courts

Judicial building in Maistone, England

Maidstone Law Courts

Maidstone Law Courts

Location| Barker Road, Maidstone
Coordinates| 51°16′16″N 0°31′07″E﻿ / ﻿51.2710°N 0.5187°E﻿ / 51.2710; 0.5187
Built| 1983
Architect| Austin-Smith:Lord
Architectural style(s)| Modernist style

Shown in Kent

The Maidstone Law Courts is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Barker Road, Maidstone, England.

## History

[edit]

Until the early 1980s, the main venue for criminal court hearings in Maidstone was the County Hall.[1] However, as the number of court cases in the Maidstone area grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department, on the north east side of Barker Road, had been occupied by a timber yard with a river wharf.[2][3][4]

The new building was designed by Austin-Smith:Lord in the Modernist style, built in concrete at a cost of £10.2 million,[5] and was completed in 1983.[6] It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 31 October 1984.[7] The design involved an asymmetric five-storey main frontage of nine bays facing onto Barker Road with a lower entrance block projected forward from the main building. The ground floor was faced with red brick and fenestrated by a continuous row of casement windows. The upper storeys were supported by concrete columns which divided the bays: on these floors, the second, third, seventh and eighth bays featured blind walls which were cantilevered out of the pavement while the other bays were fenestrated by pairs of narrow casement windows. Internally, the building was laid out with ten courtrooms.[8]

Notable cases include the trial and conviction of Jeremy Wing and Brian Hogg, in November 2002, for child sex offences, for which they received whole life orders.[9][10] They also include the trial and conviction of Robert Howard, in October 2003, for the murder of Hannah Williams,[11][12] the trial and conviction of Antoni Imiela, in March 2004, for seven counts of rape,[13][14] and the trial and conviction of Peter Connolly, in December 2007, for the murder of Christopher Alaneme.[15][16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Response to the proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the South East region" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. 11 February 2016. p. 68. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
2. ^ "The Law Courts in Maidstone". Concrete Quarterly Issues 136–151. 1983. p. 14\. "The Law Courts, Barker Road, Maidstone, Kent. Client: Lord Chancellor's Department: south side of River Medway, east of The Broadway bridge, and was originally a timber yard with a river wharf"
3. ^ "Technical Appendices Supporting Technical Studies for Maidstone Town Centre Sites Planning Guidelines" (PDF). Maidstone Borough Council. 1 January 2020. p. 174. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
4. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1914. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
5. ^ "Capital Building Programme". Hansard. 26 January 1996. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
6. ^ Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
7. ^ "People of Kent pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II". Kent Online. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
8. ^ "Maidstone". Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
9. ^ "Judge tells paedophiles they will spend life in jail". The Daily Telegraph. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
10. ^ "Paedophile pair jailed for life". The Times. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
11. ^ "Girl's killer serves life in jail". BBC News. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
12. ^ "Northfleet: sex killer jailed for life". Kent Online. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
13. ^ "Serial rapist jailed for life". BBC News. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
14. ^ "Trial of serial rape suspect begins". Kent Online. 15 January 2004. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
15. ^ "Man jailed for teenager's murder". BBC News. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
16. ^ "Five in court over teenager's murder". Kent Online. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Court information