Prisoner driven 120 miles to avoid walking 200 yards between courts - to protect his human rights

The journey was sanctioned after Mark Bailey, 35, was taken to Northampton Crown Court for a committal hearing instead of the nearby magistrates' court.

Although it would have taken just a couple of minutes to escort him by foot to the correct court, it was decided making him appear in public wearing handcuffs would have gone against human rights legislation.

The route taken by a security van which took a defendant 200 yards from the Crown Court (bottom) to the Magistrates Court

The van took nearly three hours to arrive - followed by a journey lasting a few seconds to move him to a short hearing for alleged theft.

Critics yesterday branded the case a 'shocking waste of resources'.

Brian Binley, Conservative MP for Northampton South, said: 'I've never heard such nonsense. Why we should have to suffer such ludicrous incompetence, and pay for it, is beyond me.

Northampton Crown Court (right, circled) and Northampton Magistrates Court (left, circled). A prisoner was taken on the 200 yard journey by van to avoid breaching his human rights

'In my view, Bailey should have been escorted across the road but if they were worried about him absconding they could have put him in a squad car - the police station is just around the corner.

'Quite frankly I don't care about Bailey's human rights in this situation and I'm sure he wouldn't have either.

'Why do people fail to approach such matters in a practical way, like they would do in their day-to-day lives?

'To get a matter like this mixed up with human rights is nonsense.'

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: 'This is absurd and a total waste of money.

'No wonder our prisons are in such a state of chaos if they can't even manage to escort a prisoner 200 yards between buildings.

'If anyone had shown a bit of initiative this could have been sorted out in five minutes. Instead taxpayers had to foot the bill for this wasteful trek.'

A barrister at the court, who asked not to be named, added: 'The Government is creating a false economy by transporting prisoners privately while wasting hour upon hour of court time.'

Bailey, who is on remand, was due to appear at the magistrates' court on Tuesday morning with his co-defendant Nick Taylor charged with stealing cable from a railway line.

Taylor appeared at the magistrates' court but Bailey was wrongly listed to appear at the crown court.

By the time the mistake was spotted at 11am, security firm Global Solutions had no prison vans available in the area to move him and had to send one from Cambridge 57 miles away.

Bailey, of Northampton, was eventually driven to the magistrates' court at 1.40pm.
The committal hearing began at 3pm and Bailey, who is charged with theft and going equipped for theft, was again remanded in custody minutes later.

He will appear alongside Taylor, also of Northampton, at the crown court in July.
Global Solutions Limited was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Northamptonshire police said it was not responsible for transporting prisoners.

But a spokeswoman added: 'It would not be appropriate for prisoners to walk in a public area while in custody for many reasons including public safety issues, as well as the safety and human rights of the prisoner.

'Until someone has been convicted of an offence they are innocent in the eyes of the law and it would therefore be inappropriate for them to be escorted across a busy main road in handcuffs.'