More sittings announced: Tamworth District Court to sit for seven extra weeks in late-2019 to hear backlog of trials

The Tamworth District Court will now sit almost full-time from July through to Christmas 2019 to hear trials, sentences and appeals as the court grapples with growing lists.

The court was already scheduled to sit for 12 weeks in the second half of 2019, but an extra seven weeks of court time has been allocated in that time frame, taking the sittings to 19 weeks.

Judge Jeffery McLennan announced the extra dates, which will hear cases in July for three weeks, and two two-week sittings in September and October. 

A judge from Sydney will be posted to hear the cases across three separate sittings, as the city’s permanent judge hears cases already set down in Armidale.

Anyone arraigned in the district court today, after being committed from the local court, would not get a trial date before November 2019.

Solicitors have argued the lengthy wait for their clients, some of whom in custody, is more than a year to get a trial date, after they’ve already been before the local court for at least four to six months.

Bail applications have also been lodged by some accused who argue their detention is not justified for such a long period until their case is heard.

READ ALSO:

Last week, one accused who was arraigned and pleaded not guilty in the district court was told the first available date in Tamworth was the sittings starting November 25, 2019.

Since the extra sittings were announced, at least three trials have been added into the fixtures.

Judge McLennan said he would list several trials as well as “severity appeals, conviction appeals and other short matters” for the visiting judge.

It means the only reprieve for the court and solicitors to prepare for cases will be two two-week periods in September and November, next year.

The district court in Tamworth and Armidale has had a permanent judge since mid-2017 after a judges for the bush campaign – spearheaded by Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall and The Leader.

Since then, Judge McLennan has sat across mostly three-to-four-week sittings between the two major centres hearing cases from across the New England North West.