A coalition of liberties rights groups has warned that people in the UK are being convicted of breaking coronavirus “laws” without being provided the means to plead innocent.
The London Independent reports that cases are being processed under a system known as the ‘Single Justice Procedure’ where one magistrate decides the outcome of a case based solely on evidence supplied by police.
This means that anyone accused of breaching lockdown restrictions could be found guilty and notified by letter without even getting a court hearing.
The watchdog groups have penned a letter to the justice secretary outlining how “likely thousands” of people have been subject to miscarriages of justice, and calling for the practice to stop.
