Arson attack and cannabis farm discovery in empty court

A disused magistrates’ court has made headlines for a second time in two weeks after being targeted by arsonists. Firefighters were called on Monday evening to Halton Magistrates Court in Runcorn and tackled a blaze at the site for several hours.

Cheshire Police said yesterday that the cause of the fire had been confirmed as being started deliberately from materials inside the premises.

Detective sergeant Alex Reeves, from Halton CID, said officers want to speak to anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage that may be useful.

He added: ‘Thankfully there have been no reports of anyone sustaining any injuries, however I want to remind the public of how dangerous and unsafe it can be to enter these types of buildings and to please keep away from them.’

The court was closed along with dozens of others in 2017 as part of a cost-cutting restructure. The Liverpool Echo reports that a Staffordshire-based real estate company bought the building last year for £200,000.

In an apparently unconnected matter, Cheshire Police reportedly found more than 1,000 cannabis plants growing at the site just over two weeks ago. Wooden fittings and chairs had apparently been left outside the back of the court close to an open window on the building’s first floor.

A 20-year-old man has been charged with producing a Class B drug.

The discovery came up during justice questions in the House of Commons yesterday, with shadow justice secretary Steve Reed pointing out that the Runcorn site was one of almost 300 courts closed by the government since 2010.

Reed asked justice secretary Dominic Raab whether, while 60,000 cases are still waiting to be heard because of a lack of court capacity, he regretted that ‘courts that used to hand out justice now hand out spliffs’.

Raab said the government has extended the Nightingale courts and removed the limit on sitting days for the Crown court in an effort to reduce the backlog.