Kingston upon Thames Crown Court | |
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![]() Kingston upon Thames Crown Court | |
Location | Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames |
Coordinates | 51°24′21″N 0°18′17″W / 51.4059°N 0.3046°W |
Built | 1997 |
Architectural style(s) | Modernist style |
Kingston upon Thames Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at 6–8 Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, London. [1]
Until the late 1990s, Crown Court hearings were held at the Sessions House in Surbiton. [2] However, as the number of criminal cases in southwest London grew, it became necessary to commission a more substantial courthouse for southwest London. The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department in The Bittoms had been the site of a Royal palace in the 13th century, [3] [4] [5] but was occupied by the Third Kingston Scout Group by the mid-20th century: it was acquired by Surrey County Council for redevelopment in 1966. [6]
Work on the new building started in February 1994. [7] It was designed and built by a joint venture of HBG and Kyle Stewart [8] in the modernist style [9] in brick and glass with stone dressings at a cost of £18 million and was completed in 1997. [10] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing onto Penrhyn Road with the central five bays projected forward. The central bay featured a recessed full-height glass atrium with a semi-circular revolving door on the ground floor, a modern oriel window and a Royal coat of arms on the first floor and a small pediment above. Internally, the principal rooms were the courtrooms which were equipped with curtains to hide the witnesses where necessary. [11]
Notable cases heard at the court include the trial and conviction of six men, including Abu Izzadeen, Sulayman Keeler and Abdul Rahman Saleem, in 2008, on charges of supporting terrorism [12] and the trial and conviction of Kirk Reid, in 2009, on 28 charges of rape and sexual assault. [13] [14]