Rollout of witness text reminder programme

A new scheme to text witnesses to remind them to attend court has been rolled out across Scotland by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, following a successful pilot of the scheme at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The programme aims to improve communication with witnesses, and avoid adjournments of criminal court cases because a witness forgets to attend.

“The witness texting initiative has already worked well since it was trialled in Edinburgh Sheriff Court by the Crown Office, and I am delighted to see that witnesses across Scotland will now benefit from what is a simple but innovative idea,” said Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

During the pilot, which began in January, 90% of witnesses said they found it helpful and 7% of witnesses who received a text said they would not otherwise have remembered to attend court.