New Crown courtroom opens in Hereford

A new Crown courtroom has officially opened at Hereford Justice Centre, marking a significant milestone in restoring court capacity in the region following the closure of Hereford’s historic Shire Hall. The opening ceremony took place on 13 October 2025, celebrating the completion of extensive conversion works at the Magistrates’ Court building, transforming it into a joint magistrates’ and Crown Court facility. Hereford joins a select group of courts across England and Wales that handle cases from all jurisdictions. Since the Crown Court’s opening on 28 February 2025, 14 multi-day and multi-week trials have been conducted, trials that would have been postponed without this additional facility.

The Senior Presiding Judge was present at the official opening event, underscoring the significance of this development. In the late 1990s, the Magistrates Courts Committee entered into a PFI contract to construct new courthouses in Hereford and Worcestershire, with Hereford being the first completed in 2001 to accommodate all magistrates’ court business. The Court Service also maintained a long-standing relationship with the Hereford Shire Hall, a building dating back to 1817 that served as the meeting place for the Herefordshire County Council and the home of Hereford’s Crown Court.

However, the Shire Hall became unusable in March 2020 due to a ceiling collapse in both courtrooms, forcing the need for an expansion of court facilities. The launch of this new Crown courtroom is set to restore the regional case capacity to its full potential. Minister for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman KC MP expressed satisfaction with the new facility, stating, “I’m pleased to see the opening of this new Crown courtroom facility in Hereford, allowing us to return to full court case capacity.”

She added that the development is crucial for bolstering court infrastructure and ensuring that residents of Hereford and surrounding communities have timely access to justice. This opening represents one of two new Crown courtroom facilities introduced in the region this year, following the official inauguration of Redditch Crown Court in January. Additionally, two new courtrooms opened in Sheffield last month to accommodate civil and family cases. These initiatives reflect ongoing efforts to enhance the justice system's capability to process cases efficiently and swiftly.

Jurors in the Hereford area have faced a prolonged absence from trials since June 2020, when a roof collapse at the Shire Hall led to further delays with COVID-19 restrictions compounding the situation. During this time, Crown court trials were relocated to Worcester, and some sentencing hearings were held at Hereford’s magistrates’ court. The reopening of the Crown courtroom signals a promising step towards addressing these long-standing backlogs and restoring full judicial operations in Hereford.