Bradford Law Courts

The Bradford Law Courts is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, at Exchange Square, off Drake Street, Bradford, England.

Bradford Law Courts
Bradford Law Courts
LocationExchange Square, Drake Street, Bradford
Coordinates53.7927°N 1.7492°W / 53.7927; -1.7492
Built1993
ArchitectNapper Collerton
Architectural style(s)Modernist style
Bradford Law Courts is located in West Yorkshire
Bradford Law Courts
Shown in West Yorkshire

History

Until the early 1990s, Crown Court cases in Bradford were heard in the Bradford City Hall, or if a long sentence was likely to be given, in Leeds Town Hall.[1] However, as the number of court cases in Bradford grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected had been occupied by the Bradford Exchange railway station which had been demolished in 1976.[2][3][4]

The new building was designed by Napper Collerton in the Modernist style, built by John Laing Construction in yellow stone at a cost of £18.9 million,[5] and was completed in 1993.[6][7][8] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 15 bays facing onto Exchange Square. The central bay featured a revolving door on the ground floor with a curved stone section on the first and second floors, displaying a Royal coat of arms on the first floor and fenestrated by a five-part casement window on the second floor. The wings, of seven bays each, featured sections on the second floor, which were stone-faced and cantilevered out over the pavement. The second floor was fenestrated by tall rectangular windows except for the bays flanking the central bay, which were fenestrated by seven-part oriel windows. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate eleven courtrooms.[9] The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, described the design as "expensive-looking and facetiously detailed".[10]

Notable cases have included the trial and conviction, in November 2007, of Ronald Castree for the murder of Lesley Molseed, some 31 years after the trial and wrongful conviction of Stefan Kiszko at Leeds Crown Court in July 1976.[11][12] They have also included the trial and conviction of eleven men in December 2015, on charges in connection with the Keighley child sex abuse ring,[13] and the trial and conviction, in December 2021, of Savannah Brockhill for the murder of Star Hobson.[14]

In 2017, filming took place at Bradford Law Courts for a court scene in the television drama, The Moorside, which was a dramatisation of the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews.[15][16]

References
  1. "The Yorkshire Ripper and Me". Northern Life Magazine. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. Thomas, Rhys (31 October 2016). "Then and now: The forgotten city centre station from Bradford's rail heyday". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  3. Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Eastern Region. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England: Patrick Stephens. p. 48. ISBN 978-1852600723.
  4. Warr, Bernard (2021). Railways of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1785008474.
  5. "Capital Building Programme". Hansard. 26 January 1996. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  6. "Law Courts and Courtrooms 1: The Buildings of the Criminal Law". Historic England. 1 August 2016. p. 16. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  7. "Bradford Law Courts". Napper Architects. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  8. Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
  9. "Bradford". Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  10. "Bradford spotlight: Modern heritage in the new UK City of Culture". 20th Century Society. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  11. "Man guilty of 1975 child murder". BBC News. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  12. "Lesley Molseed murderer sentenced to minimum 30 years". Rochdale Online. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  13. "11 men guilty of sexually abusing white schoolgirl in Keighley". The Yorkshire Post. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  14. "Star Hobson: Savannah Brockhill guilty of murder". BBC News. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  15. "The Moorside". IMDB. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  16. "Filming crews descend on Bradford to shoot scenes for upcoming BBC docu-drama The Moorside Project". The Telegraph and Argus. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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