Cardiff Crown Court Solicitors

Our Cardiff Crown Court Solicitors can represent anyone facing allegations at Cardiff Crown Court. Reeds Solicitors is an award winning and leading top-tier criminal defence firm, with a successful track record of defending clients at Cardiff Crown Court.

Examples and testimonials of our work at this crown court can be found towards the bottom of this page, please click here to be taken to that section. For legal advice and representation, please contact us through our contact page here. Alternatively, you can phone 029 2045 8999, or email us at info@reeds.co.uk.

Please find some useful information about Cardiff Crown Court, including address and contact details, below.

Cardiff Crown Court – Useful Information

Brief History of Cardiff Crown Court

Cardiff Crown Court (Welsh: Llys y Goron Caerdydd) is a historic building situated in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales. The building is Grade I listed. The courthouse has nine courtrooms in addition to one “virtual” courtroom. The senior judge at the court is Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff.

Cathays Park was purchased in 1898 by the Borough of Cardiff from the 3rd Marquess of Bute for £160,000 and developed into the Cardiff Civic Centre by William Harpur, a council engineer. A competition for the architectural design of law courts and the nearby town hall took place in 1897, and it was won by Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards. Building work commenced in 1901 and the external structure was complete by 1904.

The building has had additional facilities added (including the addition of Courts 1 and 2, and Nisi Prius Court) between 1966 and 1990. The courts were fully refurbished in the early-to-mid nineties.

Cardiff Crown Court Address

The Law Courts,

Cathays Park,

Cardiff

CF10 3PG

Opening Hours

Counter open 8:30am to 5pm

Telephone Enquiries from: 9am to 5pm

All information was correct at the time of publication [July 2023]. Please ensure you check this information before relying on it.

Important Contact Details

Enquiries: Listing.Cardiff.crowncourt@justice.gov.uk

Enquiries 02920 678730

Welsh language helpline 0300 303 5178 (for Welsh- speakers)

Enquiries 0300 332 1000 (Witness service)

Fax 0870 3240261

Building Facilities

If you have a disability and need help coming to a hearing, please contact 02920 678730.

• Disabled access: Disabled access, toilet and parking facility
• Assistance dogs: Assistance dogs are welcome.
• Hearing Loop: This Court has hearing enhancement facilities
• Public toilets: Public toilets are available
• Refreshments: Refreshments are available
• Interview room: Interview rooms are available at this court
• Waiting Room: This court has witness waiting rooms
• Baby changing facility: This court has baby changing facilities
• Prayer / Quiet room: A prayer / quiet room is available
• Video facilities: Video Conference and Prison Video Link
• Wireless network connection: This court has wireless Internet access available

 If you are required to appear at Cardiff Crown Court, please contact our Cardiff team for free and confidential advice. For legal advice and representation, please contact us through our contact page here. Alternatively, you can phone 0333 240 7373, or email us at info@reeds.co.uk.

Reeds Solicitors at Cardiff Crown Court

Case Study: Possession with Intent to supply Class A

Reeds Solicitors represent our client who was arrested and interviewed at Cardiff Bay police station and charged on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A. This was after our client had been found with numerous drugs in his possession and trying to run away from officers after being searched. His case was listed for trial at Cardiff Crown Court

If found guilty, our client would likely have received an immediate custodial sentence and a criminal record (he had no previous convictions).

Upon taking further instructions, it became apparent that the client may have been a victim of Child Exploitation. A referral was therefore made to the National Referral Mechanism to determine whether the client may have been a victim of Modern-Day Slavery, which may provide a defence under section 45 of the Modern-Day Slavery Act 2015.

The National Referral Mechanism found that there were conclusive grounds that the client had been a victim of Child Exploitation. Following this, we made representations to the Crown Prosecution Service, which eventually agreed to offer no evidence in the case.

Solicitor Nathan Adams notes that:

‘an efficient knowledge of the law surrounding the national referral mechanism was required so that persuasive representations could be made to the Crown Prosecution Service.’

Case Study: Conspiracy to Produce Cannabis Heard Before Cardiff Crown Court

Our Cardiff Solicitors represented a client charged with conspiracy to produce cannabis at Cardiff Crown Court.

He was interviewed at Bridgend police station and his case appeared for trial at Cardiff Crown Court. Our client was a foreign national and remanded into custody awaiting trial in the Crown Court. The offence of conspiracy to supply or produce controlled drugs often leads to the imposition of a lengthy custodial sentence.

If our client had not had effective representation he could have remained in custody pending the outcome of his trial and if he were found guilty, he would have received a lengthy custodial

We are pleased that a bail application was made and representations were made in respect of the lack of evidence against our client.

The prosecution drafted a 250-page case summary, with supporting witness statements and exhibits, very little of which related to our client. However, we were able to highlight that the client was said to be involved through his association with the co-defendants only and that the evidence did not meet the high criminal standard required.

We are pleased to say that the prosecution agreed to offer no evidence against our client. Had the client being found guilty of this offence, not only would he have received a lengthy custodial sentence, but a conviction would also have had a significant detrimental impact upon his immigration application.

Case Study: S18 and S20 Offences – Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) with Intent

Reeds Solicitors represented two clients charged with grievous bodily harm with intent following a serious assault involving a hammer and sword. The clients were initially interviewed at Merthyr Tydfil Police Station, denied being present and were released without charge. The Complainant exercised the “Victim’s Right to Review” Scheme and a decision was later made to charge the clients with s18 grievous bodily harm with intent and s20 grievous bodily harm. Thereafter, the case was listed for trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

Had our clients been found guilty they could have received over 10 years imprisonment due to the seriousness of the injuries.

We instructed leading Counsel to defend the clients at Cardiff Crown Court. The evidence rested on identification the complainant had made of the two clients in a PROMAT ID parade. However, the Complainant commented that he had seen both of the clients in an article in a local newspaper before the identification parade had taken place. The local newspaper issued an article of the two clients and listed them as wanted by South Wales Police in relation to the assault. That article was widely shared on social media.

There was no other substantiating evidence, such as eyewitnesses who identified the clients as present at the scene, or any forensic evidence. The identification of the clients rested largely on the PROMAT ID parade. Submissions made that the identification evidence was tainted due to the impact the newspaper article had on the identification and that in evidence, the Complainant stated he had only seen the perpetrators for 10-20 seconds, had his arms covering his face and described the scene as chaotic.

We are pleased to have successfully argued that the prosecution evidence did not meet the criminal standard of making the jury sure beyond reasonable doubt. Both clients found not guilty after trial avoiding a significant custodial sentence