ALL courthouses in North Yorkshire have been closed to the public for the duration of the pandemic lockdown.

But justice is continuing for defendants arrested for offences committed in the county both before and during the lockdown.

All criminal law cases for the county are now being heard in Leeds, with a courtroom in Leeds Magistrates Court devoted each day to North Yorkshire cases, and some York Crown Court cases being heard at Leeds Crown Court.

So far, York Crown Court has sat in the West Yorkshire courthouse one day a week during the lockdown.

Both courts are only hearing cases involving defendants in custody or urgent civil cases. There are no trials and cases involving defendants on bail or summonsed to court are being adjourned without them needing to appear in court.

So far they are being adjourned until the end of May and beginning of June, but those dates may be changed.

A child abuse trial was the last trial to end at York Crown Court before the building was closed.

Matthew Lee Scaife, 35, formerly of Acomb, York, and now of Scarborough, was convicted of a string of sex offences against a girl at the end of a two-week trial .

The jury went into retirement just hours before the Prime Minister announced the lockdown and returned their verdicts the following day during the lockdown. Scaife will be sentenced at a date to be announced.

Defendants arrested by the police and not given bail are appearing before a North Yorkshire Magistrates Court sitting in Leeds, where they are bailed, remanded in custody or their case is heard in full on the day.

The court is also hearing urgent applications for domestic violence protection order where an abuser can be banned from his or her home for a period to protect their victim.

The court can hear police search and entry warrant applications.

All county courts are closed.