by Hayley Robinson

The fight to save Sittingbourne Magistrates’ Court has been lost.

Townspeople caught up in the criminal justice system now face long journeys to Maidstone and Medway.

The legal challenge to overturn the Ministry of Justice’s decision to close the court in Park Road was rejected by High Court judges on Thursday last week.

The decision has been criticised by solicitors from Robin Murray and Co, who instigated a judicial review on keeping the court open.

Partner Simon Holmes said: "The decision will affect justice in Swale. The distances people will now be expected to travel to court will, we believe, cause some to decline to attend.

"Defendants who in the past could access their local court may find that they are not able to travel the greater distances now required, thereby resulting in more warrants being issued and scarce police resources being used to arrest and bring them before the courts.

"This may also result in more people being kept in prison before their cases are dealt with in order to ensure their attendance at court.

"Justice will suffer and the cost to the criminal justice system overall is likely to rise. We therefore call upon the Ministry of Justice to reconsider even at this late stage their decision to close the court."

MP Gordon Henderson said he was disappointed and dismayed by the outcome. "I think the government has made a mistake on this one," he said. "They’ve done this as a cost-cutting exercise, and in the long-term it will cost them more money than if they’d kept it open."

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is looking at selling the building. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The closure of the court and the movement of work to nearby courts will improve court utilisation across the area.

"Providing access to justice does not mean providing a courthouse in every town or city. The speed of case outcome, the quality and efficiency of the service we provide, and an environment which commands respect for the justice system and the safety and comfort of court users, are much more significant to the delivery of effective local justice across communities."