Bradford Law Courts
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The Bradford Law Courts is a
Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...
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 Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
, England.


History

Until the early 1990s, Crown Court cases in Bradford were heard in the
Bradford City Hall Bradford City Hall is a 19th-century city and town halls, town hall in Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building which has a distinctive clock tower. History Before its relocation, between 1847 and ...
, or if a long sentence was likely to be given, in
Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
. 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 Bradford Exchange railway station served the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1850 to 1973, before being replaced by a smaller, new-build station, which was later called Bradford Interchange. Railway lines from Halifax, ...
which had been demolished in 1976. The new building was designed by Napper Collerton in the
Modernist style Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture wa ...
, built by John Laing Construction in yellow stone at a cost of £18.9 million, and was completed in 1993. 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 A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...
on the second floor. The wings, of seven bays each, featured sections on the second floor, which were stone-faced and
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
ed 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 window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...
s. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate eleven courtrooms. The architectural historian,
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
, described the design as "expensive-looking and facetiously detailed". 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 Leeds Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, and a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Oxford Row, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is adjacent to Leeds Magistrates Courts. History Un ...
in July 1976. 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, and the trial and conviction, in December 2021, of Savannah Brockhill for the murder of Star Hobson. 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.


References

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External links


Court information
Buildings and structures in Bradford Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1993 Court buildings in England