Swansea Crown Court
{{short description|Judicial building in Swansea, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name =Swansea Crown Court
| native_name =
| image = Swansea Crown Court.jpg
| caption=Swansea Crown Court
| locmapin =Wales Swansea
| map_caption =Shown in Swansea
| coordinates ={{coord|51.6145|N|3.9576|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location = St Helen's Road, Swansea
| area =
| built =1988
| architect =Sir Alex Gordon
| architecture =Neoclassical style
| website=
}}
Swansea Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at St Helen's Road in Swansea, Wales.
History
Until the late 1980s, judicial hearings in Swansea were held in the west wing of Swansea Guildhall.{{cite news|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/inside-historic-stunning-former-swansea-15754151|title=Inside the historic and stunning former Swansea crown court|date=3 February 2019|newspaper=Wales Online|access-date=19 January 2023}} However, as the number of court cases in southwest Wales grew, it became necessary to commission a dedicated courthouse for criminal matters. The site chosen, which was close to the guildhall but on the opposite side of St Helen's Road, had been occupied by an old tramway depot.{{cite web|url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.4&lat=51.61447&lon=-3.95874&layers=168&b=1&marker=51.6145,-3.9576|title=Ordnance Survey Map|year=1914| access-date=19 January 2023}}
The new building was designed by the Welsh architect Sir Alex Gordon in the neoclassical style, built in concrete at a cost of £5.2 million, and was completed in 1988.{{cite book|url=https://cadw.gov.wales/sites/default/files/2019-06/Cadw%20Post-war%20report%20FINAL%20March%2019_0.pdf|page=100|title=Advice to inform post-war listing in Wales|publisher=Cadw|date=1 March 2019|first1=Edward|last1=Holland|first2=Julian|last2=Holder| access-date=19 January 2023}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3n9nAAAAMAAJ|page=213|title=Swansea: An Illustrated History|first=Glanmor|last=Williams|year=1990|publisher=Christopher Davies|isbn=978-0715407141}}{{Cite news |last=Stephens |first=Meic |date=1999-07-27 |title=Obituary: Sir Alex Gordon {{!}} The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-alex-gordon-1109105.html |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Independent |language=en}}{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1996-01-26/debates/24326606-27f4-4596-af08-e5c5019ec7e6/CapitalBuildingProgramme|title=Capital Building Programme|date=26 January 1996|publisher=Hansard|access-date=12 March 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37607629|title=How art legacies helped Swansea's Glynn Vivian gallery|date=14 October 2016|newspaper=BBC News| access-date=19 January 2023}} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing onto St Helen's Road. The central bay featured a wide opening on the ground floor and a prominent bipartite oriel window on the first floor which was enhanced by a carved Royal coat of arms placed between the two parts.{{cite web|url=https://stock.adobe.com/images/swansea-wales-uk-june-30-2018-swansea-crown-court-sign-in-st-helen-s-road-which-is-the-highest-court-of-first-instance-in-criminal-cases/372912683?as_campaign=ftmigration2&as_channel=dpcft&as_campclass=brand&as_source=ft_web&as_camptype=acquisition&as_audience=users&as_content=closure_asset-detail-page|title=Swansea, Wales, UK: Swansea Crown Court sign in St Helen's Road which is the highest court of first instance in criminal cases|date=30 June 2018|access-date=19 January 2023}} The central bay was flanked by two full-height triangular piers. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate three courtrooms.{{cite web|url=https://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Swansea-Crown-Court.php|title=Swansea Crown Court|publisher=The Law Pages|access-date=19 January 2023}} The custodial area was extensively refurbished at a cost of £220,000 in August 2013.{{cite web|url=https://johnweaver.co.uk/project/swansea-crown-court/|title=Swansea Crown Court|publisher=John Weaver| access-date=19 January 2023}}
Notable cases have included the trial and wrongful conviction, now recognised as a serious miscarriage of justice, of Yusef Abdullahi, Stephen Miller and Tony Paris, in November 1990, for the murder of Lynette White.{{Cite news|title=Security guard admits 1988 prostitute murder|date=4 July 2003|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/04/ukcrime1|access-date=19 January 2023}}{{Cite news|title=Killing led to miscarriage of justice|newspaper=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3038672.stm|date=4 July 2003|access-date=19 January 2023}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMl5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT107|title=A-Z of Cardiff: Places-People-History|first= Dic|last= Mortimer|year=2016|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=978-1445656618}} Other cases have also included the trial and conviction of Jason Richards and Ben Hope, in February 2013, for the murder of Aamir Siddiqi,{{cite news|title=Aamir Siddiqi murder: Jason Richards and Ben Hope given 40 years each|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21374332|newspaper=BBC News|date=8 February 2013 |access-date=19 January 2023}} and the trial and conviction of an unnamed man, in October 2019, on 36 counts of rape and one count of an assault by penetration against his own daughters.{{cite news |title=Father guilty of raping daughters, Swansea Crown Court hears |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50001376 |work=BBC News |date=10 October 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012222859/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50001376 |archivedate=12 October 2019 |url-status=live |language=en}}{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019-10-18/man-who-systematically-raped-daughter-for-more-than-two-decades-handed-40-year-sentence|title=Man who 'systematically' raped and fathered children with own daughter for two decades handed 40-year sentence|date=18 October 2019|newspaper=ITV|access-date=19 January 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/south-wales-man-raped-daughters-swansea-crown-court-a9152141.html|title=Man convicted of rape after fathering six children with own daughter|date=11 October 2019|newspaper=The Independent| access-date=19 January 2023}}