| Ipswich Crown Court | |
|---|---|
 Ipswich Crown Court | |
| Location | Russell Road, Ipswich |
| Coordinates | 52°03′12″N1°08′39″E / 52.0532°N 1.1442°E |
| Built | 2004 |
| Architect | Austin-Smith:Lord |
| Architectural style(s) | Modern style |
  Shown in Suffolk | |
Ipswich Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Russell Road, Ipswich, England. It was completed in 2004.
Until the early 21st century, crown court hearings were held in the Civic Centre complex in Civic Drive, which was completed in the 1960s. [1] [2] After the judicial facilities in the Civic Centre were deemed to be inadequate, the Lord Chancellor's Department decided to commission a new courthouse: the site chosen formed part of the Ipswich Village Development. [3]
The new building was procured under a Private finance initiative contract in 2001. [4] [5] It was designed by Austin-Smith:Lord in the modern style, built by Mowlem and was officially opened by Lord Falconer on 15 October 2004. [6] [7] The design involved a long glazed wall, which enclosed the main hall and entrance, and a stainless steel roof which was cantilevered forward on gable walls supported by narrow columns. The gable walls, the columns and the full-height recessed wall on the extreme right, which displayed a Royal coat of arms, were all constructed from white Suffolk bricks. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate five courtrooms. [8]
Notable cases heard at the court have included the trial and conviction of Steve Wright, in 2008, for the murder of five sex workers, [9] [10] the trial and conviction of Paul Clarke and Lorraine Thorpe, in 2010, [lower-alpha 1] for the murder of Rosalyn Hunt and Desmond Thorpe, [12] [13] and the trial and conviction of Stephen Anthony Searle, in 2018, for the murder of his wife, Anne Seale. [14] [15]
Suffolk is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county town.
East Anglia is an area in the East of England. It comprises the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with Essex also included in some definitions. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles.
Hadleigh is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. The town is situated next to the River Brett, between the larger towns of Sudbury and Ipswich. It had a population of 8,253 at the 2011 census. The headquarters of Babergh District Council were located in the town until 2017.
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just three towns, being Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Its council was based in Needham Market until 2017 when it moved to shared offices with neighbouring Babergh District Council in Ipswich, outside either district. In 2021 it had a population of 103,417.
Babergh District is a local government district in Suffolk, England. In 2021 it had a population of 92,300. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just two towns, Sudbury and Hadleigh, which was the administrative centre until 2017 when the council moved to shared offices with neighbouring Mid Suffolk District Council in Ipswich, outside either district. The district is named after the medieval Babergh Hundred, which covered part of the area.
Thorpeness is a seaside village in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, which developed in the early 20th century into an exclusive holiday village. It belongs to the parish of Aldringham cum Thorpe and lies within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.
Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 761,000 in a mostly rural area of 1,466 square miles, including 49 miles of coastline and the Southern part of the Broads National Park. Headquartered in Martlesham, Suffolk is responsible for Ipswich, Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe. As of March 2023, the force has a strength of approximately 1,399 police officers, 116 special constables, 917 police staff/designated officers, 33 PCSO's and 123 police support volunteers. The Chief Constable is currently Rachel Kearton, and the Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore (Conservative).
Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association.
The Ipswich serial murders, commonly known as the work of the Suffolk Strangler, took place between 30 October and 10 December 2006, during which time the bodies of five murdered sex workers were discovered at different locations near Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Their bodies were discovered naked but there were no signs of sexual assault. Two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell, were confirmed to have been killed by asphyxiation. A cause of death for the other victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and Annette Nicholls, was not established.
The Winchester Law Courts is a judicial facility just off the High Street in Winchester, Hampshire, England. As well as accommodating the Crown Court, which deals with criminal cases, the complex also accommodates the County Court and the Winchester District Registry of the High Court.
Steven Gerald James Wright is an English serial killer, also known as the Suffolk Strangler. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked in Ipswich, Suffolk. The killings took place during the final months of 2006 and Wright was found guilty in February 2008 and given a whole life order.
Nottingham Crown Court, or more formally the High Court of Justice and Crown Court, Nottingham is a Crown Court and meeting place of the High Court of Justice on Canal Street in Nottingham, England. The building also accommodates the County Court and the Family Court.
Ipswich Borough Council is the local authority for Ipswich, a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Suffolk, England. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse collection, housing and planning, with Suffolk County Council providing county council services such as transport, education and social services.
The Peasenhall murder is the unsolved murder of Rose Harsent in Peasenhall, Suffolk, England, on the night of 31 May 1902. The house where the murder occurred can be found in the centre of the village, on the opposite corner to Emmett's Store. It is a classic 'unsolved' country house murder, committed near midnight, during a thunderstorm, and with ingredients of mystery.
Minshull Street Crown Court is a complex of court buildings on Minshull Street in Manchester, England. The court was designated a Grade II* listed building on 2 October 1974. It is one of two Crown Courts in Manchester, the other being Manchester Crown Court.
The Ipswich Village Development is a 125-acre area, situated around Portman Road stadium, Ipswich England. The main road of the development is Russell Road which was built to House TXU Corporation and bring the corporation under one roof however Suffolk County Council bought the building after the energy company hit financial difficulties, Russell Road is also home to the Ipswich Crown Court and is also home Ipswich Borough Council and Smart Energy are located opposite in Grafton House. Ipswich Crown Court is located at the start of Russell Road as well as number of government and political companies being housed on the road.
East Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The largest town is Lowestoft, which contains Ness Point, the easternmost point of the United Kingdom. The second largest town is Felixstowe, which has the country's largest container port. On the district's south-western edge it includes parts of the Ipswich built-up area. The rest of the district is largely rural, containing many towns and villages, including several seaside resorts. Its council is based in the village of Melton. The district was formed in 2019 as a merger of the two previous districts of Suffolk Coastal and Waveney. In 2021 it had a population of 246,058. It is the most populous district in the country not to be a unitary authority.
In 2017, Stephen Anthony Searle, a UK Independence Party (UKIP) general election candidate and recent member of Suffolk County Council, murdered his wife and told police "I’ve been a very naughty boy".
The 2021 Suffolk County Council election took place on 6 May 2021 as part of the 2021 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 75 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions, which return either one or two county councillors each, by first-past-the-post voting, for a four-year term of office.
Lorraine Thorpe is a British woman who is Britain's youngest female double murderer. Over the space of nine days in August 2009, Thorpe tortured and murdered two people in Ipswich, one of which was her own father. She came to national attention upon her conviction in 2010, when it was noted that she had only been 15 years old at the time of the killings. She was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 14 years' imprisonment, while her accomplice in the murders was issued with a 27-year minimum tariff. She remains imprisoned at HM Prison Foston Hall, having been refused parole in October 2023.