Kingston upon Thames Crown Court
{{short description|Judicial building in Kingston upon Thames, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name =Kingston upon Thames Crown Court
| native_name =
| image = The Crown Court, Kingston-upon-Thames - London. (15234916048).jpg
| caption=Kingston upon Thames Crown Court
| locmapin =London
| map_caption =Shown in London
| coordinates ={{coord|51.4059|N|0.3046|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location = Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames
| area =
| built =1997
| architect =
| architecture =Modernist style
| website=
}}
Kingston upon Thames Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at 6–8 Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, London.{{cite web|url=https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/courts/kingston-upon-thames-crown-court|title= Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court|publisher=Gov.UK |access-date=12 October 2015}}
History
Until the late 1990s, Crown Court hearings were held at the Sessions House in Surbiton.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060508/text/60508w0023.htm|title=Civil Courts (Enforcement of Judgments)|date=8 May 2006|publisher=UK Parliament|accessdate= 16 September 2020}} 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,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fPsVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92|title=The History and Antiquities of the Ancient and Royal Town of Kingston-upon-Thames|page=92|first=W. D.|last=Biden|publisher=William Lindsey|year=1852}}{{cite web|title='Kingston-upon-Thames: Introduction and borough', in A History of the County of Surrey|volume=3|first=H. E.|last= Malden |location=London|year=1911|pages=487–501|publisher= British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp487-501 |access-date= 15 January 2023}}{{cite book|url=https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/rowley-w-c-richardson/surbiton-thirty-two-years-of-local-self-government-1855-1887-hci/1-surbiton-thirty-two-years-of-local-self-government-1855-1887-hci.shtml|page=1|first=Rowley W. C.|last= Richardson|title=Surbiton; thirty-two years of local self-government, 1855-1887|publisher=Bull and Son|year=1888}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/1390283.spider-shows-pack-has-legs/|title=Spider shows pack has legs|date=10 May 2007|newspaper=Surrey Comet|access-date=15 January 2023}}
Work on the new building started in February 1994.{{cite news|url=https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/archive/17feb94-uk-court-in-the-act-kyle-stewart-17-02-1994/|title=Court in the act – Kyle Stewart|date=17 February 1994|access-date=15 January 2023}} It was designed and built by a joint venture of HBG and Kyle Stewart{{cite news|url=https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/archive/27jan94-uk-kyle-stewart-wins-in-court-27-01-1994/|title=Kyle Stewart wins in court|date=27 January 1994|newspaper=Construction News|access-date=15 January 2023}} in the modernist style{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUi8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT89|title=The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity|first1= Linda|last1= Mulcahy|first2= Emma|last2= Rowden |year=2019|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=978-0429558689}} in brick and glass with stone dressings at a cost of £18 million and was completed in 1997.{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7xUAAAAMAAJ|newspaper=Architecture Today|page=26|issue= 84–93|year=1998|title=Kingston Crown Court Architects: Design & Build; HBG Kyle Stewart}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://courtofthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/140924_FORTRESS-OR-SANCTUARY-low-res.pdf |title=Fortress or Sanctuary? Enhancing Court Safety by Managing People, Places and Processes|page=111|date=1 September 2014|publisher=Australian Research Council| access-date=15 January 2023}}
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{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7352969.stm |title=Six guilty of terrorism support |newspaper=BBC News |date=17 April 2008 |access-date=15 January 2023}} and the trial and conviction of Kirk Reid, in 2009, on 28 charges of rape and sexual assault.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8082384.stm|title=Life term for serial sex attacker|date=4 June 2009|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=15 January 2023}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/27/metropolitan-police-rape-inquiry|title=Metropolitan police facing crisis after failures in Kirk Reid rape inquiry|last=Laville|first=Sandra|date=26 March 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=15 January 2023}}