More than a dozen high-profile trials have been put on trial at the Old Bailey and courts in south east London due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.


On Tuesday it was announced that upcoming criminal trials lasting more than three days would be postponed, which includes the case of a 16-year-old charged with murder in Bexley.

The decision to put off trials at Crown Courts will affect the families of victims who will face an even longer wait for justice, but the efforts are being made to delay the spread of coronavirus.

There are currently 953 cases in the capital, and Boris Johnson on Tuesday said that London was ahead of the curve in terms of the spread of Covid-19.

TfL today announced it was closing 40 Tube stations as part of a partial shutdown, whilst schools nationwide are due to close on Friday.

Amongst the courts hit the hardest by the suspension of trials three days or longer will be the Central Criminal Court, although Crown Courts across the south east of London will also be forced to postpone cases.

The Central Criminal Court hosts hundreds of trials a year for the most serious offences, including murder, terrorism, attempted murder, manslaughter and death by dangerous driving.

There are currently eight murder cases which are mid-trial, and these will continue.

But the case of a 16-year-old boy charged with the murder of Ben Lines will be postponed indefinitely.

Ben was found with a stab injury to his chest on Barnehurst Avenue in Bexley after a reports of a fight in the street and was declared dead less than three hours later.

The case is one of a string of new trials due to commence in the weeks running up to April 30 which typically last between two to six weeks, a court official confirmed.

Among the other affected cases is is the trial of two young men accused of the murder of athlete Tashan Daniel, 20, who was on his way to an Arsenal match when he was stabbed to death at Hillingdon underground station last September.

Dean Smith, 45, from Watford, was due to go on trial at the Old Bailey charged with the murder of his 13-year-old daughter in the coming weeks.

Maisie Newell suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries as a baby and died, allegedly as a result, in June 2014.