Getting a copy of a criminal court transcript/details of a case from 2004

[Rosiestraws]

Can anyone advise how to go about getting the above?

I have a legal background and access to Westlaw/LexisNexis etc but I cannot find the case on there from a basic search.

It was a criminal case and I don't want to give too much information out but I have been given some information about person X (known to me)'s time in prison for a crime and I am concerned/curious that the information is not truthful and I would like to read the transcript or detailed case summary myself to check the position.

I know person X's name and the crime they were convicted of, as well as the rough location and year.

TIA

I was a victim in a crown court case. I requested files from the court and was told no by the judge. I know other people who have also requested court files to be given a cost of £6/7000 to retrieve and issue them.

These were both historical abuse cases.

Magistrates or Crown?

Only Crown cases are recorded. www.gov.uk/apply-transcript-court-tribunal-hearing

It will cost you megabucks.

Thanks for the replies. I am not sure if it was magistrates or crown court.. I would have thought it was Crown (rustly legal knowledge atm) as it was a sexual crime.

I am aware that a lot of case law is available on legal websites which you have to be a member of/involved in law in order to access - such as Westlaw. I am involved in Law in my profession (but not crime) so I do have access to these websites so I was wondering if anyone involved in criminal law could advise if all cases are recorded in these places (and which is the best place to go for them) or if they only include certain important ones?

I am pretty sure we (the public) have to be granted access to case transcripts but agree that the usual way is to pay ££

No, the only cases that will be recorded is where an important case for the public is noted or at appeal court etc where a legal definition or case law has been created.

Westlaw has never recorded every criminal case, it would be a near impossible task.

If you don't know the court, the dates, the lawyers etc you'll be on a hiding to nothing....

There's a little confusion here.

In civil, family, crown court and some tribunal cases there will be an audio recording made of the entire proceedings (if the equipment works - it doesn't always). These are archived by the court and will not be directly released to the parties or others. Anyone interested can pay to have either the whole case or just the judge's decision or (in crime) sentencing remarks transcribed. This would usually be needed if a party was making an appeal. Transcripts are made by licensed companies and are pretty expensive.

Where a higher-level judge makes a decision that is thought to deal with an important issue of law, such as the interpretation of an Act of Parliament, law reporters such as Westlaw may pay to have the judgment transcribed so they can add it to their database and/or publish it in print - lawyers will pay a lot of money for this service. It is becoming near-normal now that senior judges deciding such cases will prepare a written judgment, and that will be published on a public service such as Bailii, judiciary.uk or the National Archives.

This applies to England and Wales. I don't know what the position is in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

If you want to know the details of a particular criminal case, it might be cheaper to search the local or regional press to see whether they had a reporter at the trial who wrote their own story of what happened.

@SilverHairedCat

No, the only cases that will be recorded is where an important case for the public is noted or at appeal court etc where a legal definition or case law has been created.

Westlaw has never recorded every criminal case, it would be a near impossible task.

If you don't know the court, the dates, the lawyers etc you'll be on a hiding to nothing....

Ah damn, ok that makes sense.

@TalbotAMan

There's a little confusion here.

In civil, family, crown court and some tribunal cases there will be an audio recording made of the entire proceedings (if the equipment works - it doesn't always). These are archived by the court and will not be directly released to the parties or others. Anyone interested can pay to have either the whole case or just the judge's decision or (in crime) sentencing remarks transcribed. This would usually be needed if a party was making an appeal. Transcripts are made by licensed companies and are pretty expensive.

Where a higher-level judge makes a decision that is thought to deal with an important issue of law, such as the interpretation of an Act of Parliament, law reporters such as Westlaw may pay to have the judgment transcribed so they can add it to their database and/or publish it in print - lawyers will pay a lot of money for this service. It is becoming near-normal now that senior judges deciding such cases will prepare a written judgment, and that will be published on a public service such as Bailii, judiciary.uk or the National Archives.

This applies to England and Wales. I don't know what the position is in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

If you want to know the details of a particular criminal case, it might be cheaper to search the local or regional press to see whether they had a reporter at the trial who wrote their own story of what happened.

Thank you - this makes sense and is helpful. I have googled person's x name and profession and found a two line article confirming they were sentenced to time in prison for crime Z but have not seen any further information.

I will perhaps look further into it if I can, or just make my own personal decisions about time spent with person X based on my own concerns.

If you've found a news report, maybe contact the publisher? I've asked a local reporter who was in court about the outcome of my mate's ex-H prosecution for drink driving as we couldn't attend. He let me know and it was published as well.