Judge Keith Raynor said a later decision on time limits was removed from him by the presiding judge at Woolwich crown courtA crown court judge claims he faced “improper and undue pressure” to keep a teenager in custody before his trial. Judge Keith Raynor, sitting at Woolwich crown court on Tuesday, refused to extend the time that the defendant, charged with drugs offences, could be held before the case was heard. He claimed in an email to barristers that he had felt “pressurised” to extend the custody time limit when he was contacted by Judge Christopher Kinch, QC, the most senior judge at Woolwich. Judge Kinch reportedly reminded him of the government’s plan to keep the courts running during the pandemic and of the lord chief justice’s support for the plan. “Like it or not, this seems to me to be an intervention that is difficult

Source: The Times September 10, 2020 16:07 UTC