The public purse is being saved thousands of pounds by new criminal justice system reforms placing a greater emphasis on looking after victims and witnesses.
In Birmingham Crown Court alone, the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service pilot of a new Witness Care Unit has seen "effective" trials - those that start on the expected day and go through to verdict - rise by ten per cent.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC was in Birmingham yesterday to officially open the new joint CPS and West Midlands Police unit in the city, which is now a permanent feature after last year's successful trial run.
The Birmingham unit is one of ten being rolled out across the West Midlands.
Mr Macdonald said, in the past, a "fundamentalist" attitude existed in the justice system where all the emphasis was placed on trying the defendant to the exclusion of almost anything else.
"As a defence lawyer myself for 25 years, I have seen how victims and witnesses were treated and it wasn't a very edifying spectacle.
"We are undergoing a sea change and treating victims and witnesses in a humane way which wasn't always the case before.
"The days of the criminal justice system remaining somehow above and apart from the community is over, it could not continue.
"We are funded by the community and we have to communicate better so people can realise that things are improving."
Paid for under the £36 million 'No Witness No Justice' project commissioned by the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, last year, Witness Care Units will manage the care of victims and witnesses from the point of charge through to the conclusion of a case.
It will provide a single point of contact for victims and witnesses, communicating with them through their preferred means of contact and a full needs assessment for all victims and witnesses.
