Just heard back from @DorsetCouncilUK
Highways Officer visited site today and basically found no issue and observed no damage ...
No wonder this has gone on for so many years without challenge
Heading back after a great day observing hearings at Bristol Magistrates Court with another volunteer
Part of the national Courtwatch project
transformjustice.org.uk/news…
@TransformJust1
Peter C. Bell retweeted
“-three in four people released to rough sleeping reoffend within a year”
Something I have been banging on about - great to see such a proper analysis theguardian.com/society/2026…
Replying to @HMCTSgovuk
@HMCTSgovuk Hurray! Manchester Magistrates Court has published Monday's Common Platform hearing list on both the CaTH service and @CourtServe
court-tribunal-hearings.serv…
But there are several Libra lists missing from the CaTH service (some available on Courtserve)
#OpenJustice
Weymouth Magistrates for example have published LIbra lists on @CourtServe for 10, 11 and 12 August
But none of these are on the CaTH service yet?
#OpenJustice
Report: Open Data in the Justice System
from the Magistrates Association
#OpenJustice
How many defendants at Leeds Magistrates' Court needed a French-speaking interpreter between March and November 2025, and had their first hearing delayed?
The answer? We don't know.
Not because the information doesn't exist, but because justice data is often held in separate systems, difficult to access and impossible to bring together. That makes it harder to understand what's working, identify where change is needed, and make better decisions for the future.
Our latest report, Open Data in the Justice System, calls for a more open, transparent approach to justice data, with practical recommendations to help make it happen.
magistrates-association.org.…
Replying to @NHSEngland
@NHSEngland has just released the payments over £25k reports for 2025 (Jan - Sep)
england.nhs.uk/publication/p…
My FOI request through @WhatDoTheyKnow is here
whatdotheyknow.com/request/p…
#OpenDemocracy
Only January to September 2025 files have been released as more time is needed to validate and check Oct, Nov and Dec (although 11 months seems a long time for this)
Will keep pressing for the remaining data to be made public
#NHS #OpenDemocracy
@NHSEngland interesting to note that the bean counters worked rather faster in 2025 and had the 2024 reports (Jan to Dec) ready for release on 11 April 2025!
Peter C. Bell retweeted
The sister of a man who has been in prison for 14 years without a fixed release date, has welcomed government plans to review "inhumane" indeterminate sentences.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y6…
Peter C. Bell retweeted
DWP quietly reveals how universal credit flaws were linked to multiple claimant deaths and serious harm
This is following @johnpringdns repeated efforts, to get the figures
#disabilitybenefits #DWP
disabilitynewsservice.com/dw… via @johnpringdns
Peter C. Bell retweeted
Imaginative criminal justice theguardian.com/society/2026…
Peter C. Bell retweeted
Last month in Parliament I stood alongside families and colleagues to demand justice for those trapped by the injustice of IPP sentences.
For too long, far too many lives have been devastated by a system that has caused immense suffering for individuals and their families.
It’s encouraging to hear the Prime Minister has ordered a review. This must now lead to meaningful action and long overdue justice for those affected.
Peter C. Bell retweeted
I am incredibly proud to become an advisor to @DemRespite Having cared for my own mother, I understand the emotional and physical demands placed on family carers. Respite is not a luxury - it is essential. Supporting carers ultimately means providing better care for people living with dementia.” carehomeprofessional.com/jay… @CareEngland @BucksVoices @BucksHealthcare @AshridgeLiveIn @homecareassn @SlaterGordonUK @CareProtectLtd @bucks_herald
Peter C. Bell retweeted
The Ministry of Justice’s own research shows that people in prison who get social visits are less likely to reoffend.
So why is the MoJ planning a tweak of the rules that would mean some people get fewer visits?
instagram.com/p/DbstWefojqV/…
Replying to @HMCTSgovuk
@HMCTSgovuk what is happening in listing department at Manchester Magistrates Court?
No Common Platform list published for 5th 6th or 7th August
Here are ALL the Mags that did not publish a CP on any of those three days
#OpenJustice
Four Mags Courts have published a late Libra list this morning so todays stats are now:
CP list published 118
Court sitting 124
Not sitting 25
Breaking that down
6 Libra list only
17 Common Platform list only
101 with both Libra and CP list
So far from falling out of use the old Libra listing system is still in regular use in the majority of Magistrates Courts
117 out of 124 Mags Courts sitting today still have a Libra list in use
#OpenJustice
Peter C. Bell retweeted
NHS CEO RAISED THE ALARM. THEY CALLED IT "PROJECT COUNTESS"
Dr Susan Gilby ran the Countess of Chester Hospital @TheCountessNHS from 2018. The same hospital at the centre of the Lucy Letby case.
She raised concerns about the chairman bullying her. They responded by creating a covert operation to destroy her career.
They built sham misconduct allegations.
Fabricated a performance case against her.
Deleted hundreds of documents.
Purged WhatsApp messages.
A director took her to the pub and told her:
"Time for you to go. If you don't agree, we will start a process."
She refused. She took them to tribunal. She won.
£1.4m. One of the largest NHS payouts ever. Total taxpayer cost: around £3m. The Trust had refused every offer to settle.
No apology. No criminal charges. Just a bill the public paid.
Peter C. Bell retweeted
POST OFFICE JAILED AN INNOCENT WOMAN
Imagine. You run a small @PostOffice in Hull. You show up every day, you serve your community, you do the job. Then one day a computer program called Horizon decides you owe £59,000 that never existed. A computer program with a known glitch problem.
Post Office didn't check the software. It just marched Janet Skinner into court in 2007 and got her jailed for 9 months. She served 2 behind bars. She lost her house. She lost her job. She lost her name in the eyes of her own neighbours, all because nobody in a position of power fancied questioning a machine.
Here's where any decent organisation would stop digging the hole ... The Post Office kept digging.
A year after she walked out of prison, they hauled her back into court again, this time chasing her for "proceeds of crime."
Proceeds of a crime she never committed, calculated by a system that couldn't add up in the first place. Bold strategy from the people who broke the calculator in the first place.
Less than two weeks after that fresh nightmare finally ended, Janet's body gave out completely. Neurological collapse. Paralysed from the neck down.
Doctors told her she'd never walk again.
She spent a year in a wheelchair and two years learning to walk. She says her own immune system turned on her. Years of fighting a system that refused to admit fault, and in the end it was her own body that surrendered first.
So how does this story end? With an apology? A cheque that actually matches what she lost? Of course not.
In 2025, after everything, the compensation scheme handed her an offer worth around 15% of her claim.
Janet called it an insult. I'd call it a joke, except nobody's laughing, least of all the people who wrote the offer letter from the comfort of a job that still exists.
9 months in prison for a bug. 2 years in a wheelchair for the stress of proving her innocence. A payout that wouldn't cover the damage to her health, let alone her life. And somewhere, the people who signed off on her prosecution are still drawing a pension.
Nobody who signed off on any of this has lost a house, a job, or a night's sleep. They got promotions. She got a wheelchair and an insulting cheque. Accountability had every chance to show up here and chose not to..
SOURCES
@BBCNews @itvnews and others.
















