No-show witnesses to face jail under new proposals

Ministers provoked uproar yesterday by suggesting that victims of crime could be jailed for three months if they failed to go to court to give evidence.

The proposal - aimed at cutting prosecutions that collapse because of missing witnesses - was condemned by victims' groups and opposition parties.

Witnesses who did not comply with their "witness order" could be fined and face up to three months in prison for contempt of court.

Barry Hugill, of the pressure group Liberty, said: "This will make matters even worse for vulnerable people." Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "This is a bureaucratic and inhumane way to deal with the problem of victims and witnesses who are unwilling to give evidence."

Supporters of the proposal, which is being put out to consultation, argue it could help witnesses stand up to intimidation. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The current thoughts ... are that it will be easier for people if they can ... say 'I've got to go, I've got no choice'."

More than 30,000 prosecutions collapse every year because witnesses go missing or do not answer questions in court. Non-attendance of witnesses accounts for the highest proportion of failed trials. Last year a quarter of all failed crown court prosecutions were due to witnesses not appearing.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal, a Home Office minister, said: "Each time a case is not brought to trial, or a trial collapses, a victim's suffering is made worse and public confidence in the system is undermined." At present, witnesses can be summoned to appear - risking arrest if they refuse - if courts believe they can provide "material evidence".

The proposed order replaces an earlier one abolished in 1997. The Home Office launched a new online "witness walkthrough" yesterday, designed to make the criminal justice process easier to understand.