Bailed Out

As I have often said the grant of bail is always a calculated risk, and most of the time things work as they should. One of the defendants in the first-ever no-jury trial that is currently taking place has absconded. Here is the official statement:-

On 18 February a spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office said:

“Peter Blake was originally granted bail at the Central Criminal Court on 25 September 2007. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had opposed bail over concerns he would fail to surrender.

“However, Mr Blake has complied with his bail conditions throughout the almost two and a half years that he was on bail and at no time did the CPS apply for his bail to be reviewed.

“There were sureties of £260,000 with conditions to include residing at a specified address, a curfew 23:00 - 06:00 daily, not to apply for any travel documents, not to open any account with a bookmaker or place bets over £100 and not to come within one mile of Heathrow except to see a solicitor.

"Mr Blake had attended on time every day and every session of the current trial. On 17 February he attended the morning session and the start of the afternoon session. He left the court building having been permitted to consult his legal team about a particular legal matter. Mr Blake failed to return to the courtroom where his trial in relation to a robbery at Heathrow in 2004 was being conducted. As a result, the trial judge, Mr Justice Treacy, issued a warrant for his arrest.

“The trial is continuing in Mr Blake's absence and the three other defendants remain on court bail.”